Leading Democrats in the House are urging the U.S. Army to implement a “strong official response” over a dispute at Arlington National Cemetery last month involving staff members working for former President Donald Trump.
Trump, who is running another presidential campaign, participated in a ceremony in late August to mark the third anniversary of the Kabul airport bombing that killed 13 U.S. service members during the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
News outlets reported that members of Trump’s staff allegedly had a verbal and physical altercation with an official at the cemetery over whether they could themselves film or take photos in Section 60, a zone for recent U.S. casualties.
Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, and two of his colleagues issued a statement this week, demanding an investigation that could result in penalties and the release of information.
Trump and his campaign staff “clearly violated the rules and regulations prohibiting political activities at Arlington National Cemetery by using one of our country’s most hallowed sites for partisan campaign purposes,” they said.
A U.S. Army spokesperson said a female official at Arlington National Cemetery, located in Virginia near Washington, D.C., had been “abruptly pushed aside” but ultimately decided not to press any charges, and the matter was closed.
Trump has denied there being “conflict or ‘fighting.'” NPR reported that his spokesman, Steven Cheung, “strongly rejected the notion of a physical altercation” and said his team was prepared to release footage to fight defamatory claims.
Gold Star families have appeared in videos that Trump posted to social media, saying they invited the former president to attend and film the event and criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris for her political attacks over the dispute.
In their statement this week, the congressional Democrats pressed the Army to “immediately provide information regarding how the event was coordinated” and insisted that the alleged assault “requires a strong official response.”
“As with any alleged assault, this incident should be investigated by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and should be subject to an independent charging decision,” the Democrats said, adding the Army should cooperate fully.
Failure to “properly investigate” the dispute and hold people accountable, they said, “undermines the integrity and honor of” Arlington “and erodes the longstanding rules, tradition, and norms requiring nonpartisanship in the U.S. military.”
Smith was joined by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the ranking member of the Oversight Committee who has also requested an incident report on the Arlington dispute, and Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Mark Takano (D-CA).
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