The details of the dispute over Donald Trump\u2019s campaign aides shooting photos and video in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery matter, as I wrote earlier. If they were told that filming in this hallowed area wasn\u2019t allowed \u2014 as a U.S. defense official tells The Washington Post they were, more than once \u2014 and bulldozed ahead, that would be at least something of a scandal. Trump\u2019s campaign has suggested there was a dispute but has said \u201cthere was no physical altercation as described.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even aside from the nature of the clash, which NPR reported got physical, we\u2019re left with a very important question: Was shooting those photos and that video illegal, in and of itself?<\/p>\n
Arlington National Cemetery\u2019s statement certainly suggested it was.<\/p>\n
\u201cFederal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate\u2019s campaign,\u201d the cemetery said Tuesday. \u201cArlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.\u201d<\/p>\n
The apparently applicable law here is 32 CFR \u00a7 553.32. That law says the executive director of the Army National Military Cemeteries shall \u201censure the sanctity of public and private memorial and ceremonial events.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll memorial services and ceremonies within Army National Military Cemeteries, other than official ceremonies, shall be purely memorial in purpose,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n
It adds: \u201cMemorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for whether Trump\u2019s and his campaign\u2019s actions are \u201cpartisan political activities\u201d?<\/p>\n
Trump has no official role in the U.S. government right now, and the political purpose of the visit would seem pretty evident. In addition to Trump visiting the cemetery with campaign aides, his team has in recent days sought to highlight the Biden administration\u2019s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan and attach it to Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n
The Trump team has also shared the images in a very campaign-oriented way. Top campaign aide Dan Scavino posted a video of Trump laying a wreath with family members. Some family members spoke at last month\u2019s Republican National Convention.<\/p>\n
pic.twitter.com\/sc9rGv7sYh<\/p>\n
\u2014 Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) August 26, 2024<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
And Trump\u2019s TikTok post featured clips of his visit and Trump saying, \u201cAnd then they took over that disaster \u2014 the leaving of Afghanistan.\u201d The caption appended: \u201cShould have never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, this goes beyond merely memorializing the dead; Trump is making an argument about the relative merits of himself and his successors in leading the federal government \u2014 one of whom he\u2019s running against.<\/p>\n
Micki McElya, a University of Connecticut history professor who wrote a book on Arlington National Cemetery, said politics are inherent at the cemetery, which often has to navigate that: \u201cThere is a long tradition of military families and veterans making their grief public to call leaders to account for their policies, actions, and words, and these protests have come from all along the political spectrum.\u201d<\/p>\n
But McElya called it \u201cundeniable\u201d that the Trump visit was a campaign event.<\/p>\n
Tanya Marsh, an expert on funeral and cemetery law at Wake Forest University, added that U.S. law gives cemeteries broad authority to establish rules, including for visitors.<\/p>\n
\u201cBarring a private photographer who appears to be acting on behalf of a political campaign is certainly something that appears to be within the cemetery\u2019s authority,\u201d Marsh said. \u201cSo, yes, if the campaign was filming during the wreath-laying ceremony for partisan political activities, that would be a violation of federal law.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Trump campaign has shared a snippet of an email that it suggested involved the cemetery giving it clearance. But the snippet didn\u2019t specifically address Section 60. (Photography is generally allowed, for example, at the Tomb of the Unknowns, as the above photo demonstrates.) The Trump campaign hasn\u2019t responded to a request for the full email.<\/p>\n
The campaign has also shared text messages indicating that the family members approved of the Trump campaign having media present, a point that Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) emphasized Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey invited him to be there and to support them,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n
But that, again, doesn\u2019t specifically address the crux of the matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the families\u2019 statement that they invited and approved of the campaign photographer\u2019s presence in Section 60 may soften the remarkable cynicism and crass behavior of the Trump campaign in the eyes of some people,\u201d McElya said, \u201cthe law does not give them the authority to sanction campaign photography.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, it\u2019s not known what kind of probing there might be into the matter. The cemetery said it filed a report, but it\u2019s not clear to whom the report was sent. And even if the Trump campaign\u2019s photography was illegal, the law doesn\u2019t specify criminal penalties.<\/p>\n
Beyond that, there\u2019s the question of whether charges could be brought related to the altercation that NPR initially reported took place. NPR\u2019s source said campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the cemetery official.<\/p>\n
At least one member of Congress \u2014 Rep. Gerry Connolly (D), who represents Northern Virginia \u2014 is calling for more information from that report and from the cemetery.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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