The family of a deceased Green Beret buried at Arlington National Cemetery is not happy that former President Donald Trump took photos and filmed a TikTok video in the part of the cemetery where the soldier is buried, the New York Times reported.
Trump attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Arlington on Monday to mark the third anniversary of the attack that halted the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Trump and Republicans have often used the 2021 Kabul attack – which killed 13 U.S. soldiers – to criticize the Biden administration.
Trump’s campaign team also shot a TikTok video at the cemetery showing him laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The video later showed him placing a bouquet of flowers on the gravestone of a soldier in Section 60, where many soldiers killed in Iraq or Afghanistan are buried.
The Times reported that Trump laid a wreath at the grave of Staff Sergeant Darin Taylor Hoover, who was killed in the attack in Kabul. His family had given Trump and his campaign team permission to film at his grave.
But the family of Master Sergeant Andrew Marckesano, who is buried next to Hoover, did not give Trump the green light.
In a statement to The Times, Marckesano’s sister Michele said: “We fully support the family of Staff Sergeant Darin Hoover and the other families in their quest for answers and accountability regarding the Afghanistan withdrawal and the Abbey Gate tragedy.”
“However,” she told the Times, “according to our conversation with Arlington National Cemetery, Trump campaign staff did not follow the rules established for this visit to Staff Sergeant Hoover’s gravesite in Section 60, which is right next to my brother’s grave.”
“We hope that visitors to this sacred site understand that these were real people who sacrificed for our freedom and that they will be honored and respected accordingly,” she added.
Marckesano served multiple deployments to Afghanistan but committed suicide in July 2020. The Green Beret Foundation has since established the MSG Andrew Marckesano Suicide Prevention Fund to honor his life and raise money for the mental health needs of Green Berets and their families.
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung referred Business Insider to a section of the Times’ reporting and highlighted a section of the statement from Marckesano’s sister. Cheung did not address the question of whether the campaign was allowed to film at Marckesano’s grave.
An earlier NPR report said two of Trump’s aides were involved in a physical altercation with a cemetery official who tried to prevent the campaign from filming and taking photographs in Section 60.
The cemetery confirmed to BI on Wednesday that an “incident” had occurred at the cemetery and that “a report had been filed.”
“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election activities at U.S. Army military cemeteries, including photographers, content creators, or others who are there for that purpose or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the statement said.
It continued: “Arlington National Cemetery has affirmed this law and its prohibitions and made them fully accessible to all concerned.”
Trump’s camp denied that there was a physical altercation at the cemetery.
“There was no physical altercation as described, and we stand ready to release footage if such defamatory claims are made,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung told BI on Tuesday.
As of press time, the Trump team had not released any footage from the event.
