The family of a Green Beret buried at Arlington National Cemetery is not happy that former President Donald Trump took a photo and filmed a TikTok video at the soldier’s plot, The New York Times reported.
Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Arlington on Monday to mark three years since the attack on U.S. troops withdrawing from Afghanistan. Trump and Republicans have often used the 2021 Kabul attack that killed 13 U.S. soldiers to criticize the Biden administration.
The Trump campaign also filmed a TikTok video at the cemetery, in which Trump was shown laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The video later showed him placing flowers at a soldier’s gravestone in Section 60, where many of the soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried.
The Times reported that Trump laid a wreath at the grave of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Huber, who was killed in the Kabul attack, and whose family had given Trump and his campaign permission to take photographs at the grave.
But the family of Sergeant Andrew Marchesano, who is buried next to Hoover, didn’t give Trump the go-ahead.
“We fully support Staff Sergeant Darin Huber’s family and other families in their demand for accountability and explanation for the Afghanistan withdrawal and the tragedy at Abbey Gate,” Marchesano’s sister, Michelle, said in a statement to The Times.
“But,” she told the Times, “based on conversations with Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff did not adhere to established rules for this visit to Staff Sergeant Huber’s grave in Section 60, which is right next to my brother’s grave.”
“I hope that people who visit this sacred site understand that these are real people who sacrificed for our freedom and are honoured and respected accordingly,” she added.
Marchesano served multiple tours of duty in Afghanistan but died by suicide in July 2020. The Green Beret Foundation subsequently established the MSG Andrew Marchesano Suicide Prevention Fund to honor his life and raise funds to support the mental health needs of Green Berets and their families.
Trump communications director Stephen Chang referred Business Insider to parts of the New York Times report and highlighted parts of Marchesano’s sister’s statement. Chang did not respond to a question about whether the campaign had been allowed to film or photograph at Marchesano’s grave.
According to an earlier NPR report, two Trump campaign staffers clashed with cemetery officials who were trying to stop the campaign from filming and taking photos in Section 60.
The cemetery confirmed to BI on Wednesday that there had been an “incident” at the cemetery and that a “report had been filed.”
“Federal law prohibits political campaigning or election-related activity on Army National Military Cemeteries, including visits by photographers, content creators or other individuals for campaign purposes or in direct support of partisan political candidates,” the statement said.
“Arlington National Cemetery has thoroughly informed all participants of this law and its prohibitions,” it added.
The Trump campaign has denied that there was a physical altercation at the cemetery.
“There was no physical confrontation as described, and we are prepared to release the footage if such defamatory allegations are made,” Trump spokesman Steven Chang told Business Interest News on Tuesday.
As of press time, the Trump campaign had not released any video of the event.
