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The US Army issued a “stark” and “rare” rebuke of ex-president Donald Trump’s illegal campaign stunt at Arlington National Cemetery, saying the campaign had been made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, all of which prohibit political activity on the grounds of the cemetery.
“Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the Army said in a statement.
Full U.S. Army Statement, which serves as the custodian of Arlington National Cemetery:
Arlington National Cemetery routinely hosts public wreath laying ceremonies at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for individuals and groups who submit requests in advance. ANC conducts nearly 3,000 such public ceremonies a year without incident.
Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption. The incident was reported to the JBM-HH police department, but the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.
This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. 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.
The Trump campaign has claimed they had video that would prove the Arlington staff were lying about their behavior, but they have so far refused to share it.
However, Fox News confirmed with multiple US Army sources that this occurred. “Fox has confirmed this with multiple U.S. Army sources that the incident did occur, despite Trump campaign denials,” Jen Griffin confirmed.
“The US Army issued a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign over the incident on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery,” CNN reported on Thursday, adding,”The Army’s statement is a rare rebuke from a military service that loathes to get in the middle of highly political issues.”
The Trump campaign has told supporters that they were invited to ANC by families, but not only do families not have the right to ignore federal law, not all families were pleased with having the gravesite of their family member shown in Trump’s political photos. “The family of Master Sgt. Andrew Marckesano, whose gravesite was shown in those photos, issued a statement saying that they did not give permission for the grave to be filmed or used by the Trump campaign.”
Perhaps one of the most egregious points about this entire event is that the cemetery employee was too afraid to press charges after an altercation with the Trump team, because she feared retribution, “Military officials said she feared Mr. Trump’s supporters pursuing retaliation.”
So not only did the Trump campaign use the gravesite of a fallen hero without their family’s permission and violate federal law so Trump, a man who has repeatedly denigrated those who served, could attack his political rivals over the gravesites of the fallen, but there’s an element of political terrorism as well, as the employee who was pushed is too afraid to press charges because she fears Trump supporters.
People can’t even stand up for the rule of law, let alone decency, because they’ve seen others terrorized for doing so when it relates to the ex-president and convicted felon, who is the very best of the Republican Party as their standard bearer and presidential candidate.
Sarah has been credentialed to cover President Barack Obama, then VP Joe Biden, 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, and exclusively interviewed Speaker Nancy Pelosi multiple times and exclusively covered her first home appearance after the first impeachment of then President Donald Trump.
Sarah is two-time Telly award winning video producer and a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
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