Altercation occurs at Arlington during Trump appearance

An Arlington National Cemetery employee declined to press charges after being shoved aside at the burial ground during an event this week, a U.S. Army spokesman told WORLD on Thursday. A wreath-laying ceremony on Monday commemorated the 13 American service members killed three years ago in a suicide bombing at an airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. Former President Donald Trump attended the event.

What happened? The Arlington National Cemetery employee was trying to ensure that participants in the ceremony abided by Department of Defense regulations, the Army spokesman said. The DOD has rules prohibiting political activity in Section 60, where the wreath-laying ceremony Trump attended took place.

The employee remained professional during the altercation and avoided causing further disruption, the spokesman said. Police were notified about the incident but since the employee is declining to press charges the U.S. Army sees the matter as closed, the spokesman said.

Who did the shoving? The Army did not identify the person who it said shoved the cemetery employee. WORLD reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment on the altercation but did not immediately receive a response.

On social media, the Trump campaign reposted a message saying that the former president was invited there by the families of the deceased service members. The Trump campaign also reposted messages claiming that a 2020 Joe Biden campaign video was shot in the same section of the cemetery.

What section of the cemetery would that be? Arlington National Cemetary is one of two national cemeteries maintained by the U.S. Army and one of the oldest cemeteries in the country. It holds the resting place of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Section 60, which is the burial ground for U.S. veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cemetery hosts thousands of events each year that take place without incident, the U.S. Army spokesman said.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Republicans who are veterans are asking Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Walz to come clean about his military service record.