The US Army must release records of the incident during Trump's visit to Arlington Cemetery, judge rules

The U.S. Army must release records of a visit by former President Donald Trump to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia in August after reports surfaced of an alleged altercation between his campaign staff and an officer working at the cemetery.

Senior Judge Paul Friedman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia signed the order on Oct. 22 as part of a lawsuit taken over by American Oversight, a Washington-based nonprofit. The group was founded in 2017 in response to what it said were “unprecedented challenges posed by the Trump administration to our country’s democratic ideals and institutions.”

American Oversight filed a Freedom of Information Act request in August seeking records about the alleged incident between Trump's campaign staff and the staffer, arguing that there was a compelling public interest in sharing information with the public as quickly as possible.

In September, the organization asked Arlington to expedite processing of its application as the presidential election approached.

Friedman said in his Oct. 22 ruling that the Army must release non-exempt portions of the requested incident records on or before Oct. 25.

“With the election just two weeks away, the American people have a clear and compelling interest in knowing how the administration responded to an alleged incident involving a major presidential candidate who has a history of politicizing the military,” Chioma said Chukwu, interim American Oversight director, said in a statement following Friedman's order.

“These records belong to the public and we are pleased that the court has agreed to the need to expedite our application. We look forward to receiving the incident report and making it available to the public.”

Friedman's order refers to Trump's visit to the military cemetery on August 26, during which the Republican presidential candidate attended a wreath-laying ceremony alongside relatives of service members who died during the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in 2021.

According to multiple reports, the alleged altercation began when the unnamed official working at the cemetery told the Trump campaign that no photos or videos were allowed to be taken.

Arlington employee “unjustly attacked”

Trump aides allegedly pushed the cemetery official after she tried to prevent them from entering an area containing recently buried service members.

The U.S. Army oversees the administration of Arlington National Cemetery.

At the time of the alleged incident, an Arlington National Cemetery spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email that a report had been filed following an incident, but did not provide further details.

The spokesman referred to a federal law that prohibits political campaigning or election-related activities at national Army military cemeteries.

This includes photographers, content creators or others who participate for purposes related to or in direct support of a partisan candidate's campaign, the spokesperson said.

“Arlington National Cemetery has reiterated and fully communicated this law and its prohibitions to all participants,” the spokesperson said.

Elsewhere, the US Army defended the Arlington National Cemetery employee who was allegedly pushed aside during the altercation, saying that she acted professionally while trying to ensure compliance with the rules and that she had been unfairly targeted be.

“This incident was regrettable and it is also unfortunate that the ANC worker and her professionalism were unfairly attacked,” the army said in a statement to multiple media outlets.

However, the Trump campaign told The Epoch Times that there was “no physical altercation” in the manner described in multiple media reports and that the campaign would be prepared to release footage “if such defamatory claims are made.” be set up”.

“The fact is that a private photographer had access to the site and, for whatever reason, an unnamed individual who clearly suffered from mental illness decided to physically block members of President Trump's team during a very solemn ceremony.” said spokesman Steven Cheung said at the time.

Family members of soldiers killed in Afghanistan also disputed claims that Trump's team engaged in an altercation with cemetery staff, saying there was no attack.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the U.S. Army and the Trump campaign for further comment.

Naveen Athrappully and Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.

From the Epoch Times