The Army is standing by a staffer at Arlington National Cemetery who got into a brief physical altercation with members of Donald Trump's campaign staff. The Pentagon on Thursday said the staffer was attempting to enforce cemetery rules at the graves of service members when she was "abruptly pushed aside" by members of Trump's team, reports the Hill.
- "This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked," the Army said. "ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation's fallen deserve."
ANC rules "clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds," and the staffer was attempting to enforce that when the incident occurred, according to the statement. The Army added that it "considers the matter closed" because the staffer has opted not to press charges, per the Washington Post. Trump's team has disputed this narrative, saying they were granted permission to have a photographer, per the AP. For "whatever reason, an unnamed individual, clearly suffering from a mental health episode, decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony," said campaign spokesman Steven Cheung. NPR, which first broke the story, reports that Trump's team "was not authorized to film or photograph" at the site. (More Arlington National Cemetery stories.)
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