Army releases redacted police report of altercation during Trump’s visit to Arlington Cemetery

WASHINGTON — The US Army has released a nearly completely redacted version of a police report describing when a Donald Trump campaign official… reportedly pushed an Arlington National Cemetery employee who tried to stop them from photographing a ceremony in honor of servicemen who died during the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Federal law prohibits activities related to election campaigning or elections at Army National Military Cemeteries. Four sentences visible in the summary of the report, released under a court order Friday, block a keyword that appears to describe a Trump campaign employee pushing away a cemetery employee.

It does say that the Trump employee used both hands while trying to get past the cemetery employee. Both names have been redacted and the affidavit the cemetery worker gave to police is completely blacked out.

Officials previously said that an employee of the former president’s office pushed a cemetery worker when she tried to prohibit two people from filming and photographing Trump’s visit in August to the graves at Site 60, a sacred site where American service members killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.

The cemetery worker refused medical treatment and said she did not want to press charges, the report said.

The lawsuit seeking the release of the police report was filed by Washington-based government transparency group American Oversight, and a federal judge has ordered its release by Friday. the group published a report on your website.

Trump, Republican presidential candidateis in a tight race with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, and the spat has raised questions about his campaign’s politicization of the military.

Trump was at the cemetery at the invitation of military families and brought staff to document the visit. He later shared a video of the performance on TikTok. The video features scenes of him in a cemetery and a voice-over from the Republican presidential candidate. blaming the Biden administration for the “disaster” withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in August 2021.

Chioma Chukwu, interim executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement that the group is glad it was able to release the report so the public can see “that federal law enforcement is still investigating the August incident in Arlington. National Cemetery.”

Chukwu said Trump and his campaign’s behavior is “consistent with his history of politicizing the military and violating clear ethical boundaries, and it’s time for the public to face up to the facts.”

In a letter accompanying the report, Army senior adviser Paul DeAgostino said the corrections were made to protect privacy and information collected for law enforcement purposes. He said the recordings were part of an ongoing investigation and their release “could reasonably be expected to interfere with ongoing enforcement proceedings.”

The Army echoed DeAgostino’s comments, saying in a statement that it released the report in accordance with a court order, adding that the police investigation “remains open and therefore we are unable to provide additional information at this time.”

The employee declined to press charges, so it is unclear what kind of legal proceedings are underway.

The families of three service members killed in a suicide bombing during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan invited Trump to a ceremony marking the third anniversary of the attack. They said the former president knew their children’s stories and blamed the Biden administration for their deaths.

Some of the families of these servicemen spoke out support for Trump at the Republican National Convention in July, in part to soften criticism that Trump was not doing enough to support veterans.

In previous comments, the Trump campaign asserted that the Republican presidential candidate’s team was given access to the photographer, disputed the claim that a campaign staffer pushed a cemetery official and rejected any suggestion that a cemetery official was unfairly targeted.

A Defense Department official previously said the Trump campaign had been warned not to take photographs in Section 60 before they arrived and began the altercation.

During a campaign event in Michigan a few days after the incident, Trump said family members asked to take photos with him at the cemetery.

“They ask me to take pictures and say I’m campaigning,” he complained, without addressing the TikTok video.