Arlington official feared retaliation after altercation with Trump staff

A new report on Wednesday shed more light on the altercation between Trump campaign staff and an official at Arlington National Cemetery.

The confrontation reportedly occurred as former President Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the veterans killed and injured in the 2021 Kabul airport bombing. The attack occurred as the U.S. military was withdrawing from Afghanistan.

Two Trump campaign staff members, identified by The New York Times As NPR first reported, press secretary Steven Cheung and campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita reportedly got into a verbal and physical altercation with an officer at the cemetery who instructed them not to take photos in Section 60.

Section 60 is the area of ​​Arlington National Cemetery where veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. “Partisan political activities” in military cemeteries are prohibited under federal law.

The Just The newspaper identified the officer only as a woman who works at the cemetery. She filed a complaint after the altercation but ultimately declined to press charges because she feared retaliation from Trump supporters, the newspaper reported, citing military officials.

The Trump campaign immediately denied that a physical altercation had occurred and insisted that it had permission to film in the restricted area. Cheung also claimed in his initial statement that the officer involved was “obviously suffering from a mental disorder.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request from The Daily Beast for comment on the incident. When asked about the officer’s decision not to press charges, Cheung told The Daily Beast, Just in a statement: “This is ridiculous and sounds like someone suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

The campaign had previously stressed that it attended the ceremony at the invitation of the Gold Star families of two veterans killed in the Kabul bombing. The campaign distributed a statement from the families thanking the former president and confirming that they had given him permission to take photos.

Arlington is operated by the U.S. Army, but the Defense Department has not commented publicly on the burgeoning controversy. Anonymous defense officials told the Associated Press and The Washington Post that the Trump campaign team was warned not to take photos in the restricted area.