Search
Items tagged with: ServiceMembers
“That’s not the time or place for it,” said Karen Meredith, a #VoteVets board member whose son, 1st Lt. Ken Ballard, is buried in the second row of #Section60. “They had to #bully themselves into this thing. The lack of #respect for the rules or the norms or the #laws at #Arlington — there’s just no respect.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
…Other #veterans & bereaved families viewed #Trump’s visit as #disrespectful to a sacred space that also belongs to them & to the nation. #Section60 is a place where young widows can be seem trimming grass w/hand scissors, sharing comfort w/other #GoldStarFamilies, & decorating graves w/flowers & beads. Visitors have long taken graveside photographs there, & sitting presidents have visited before, but not as part of #campaign events.
In addition to the #campaign’s TikTok video, #Trump posed for photos on Monday at the graveside of Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee w/her family [in #Section60], including 1 where he is giving a thumbs-up & others are smiling. Eaton called the gesture “appalling.”
The campaign also defended itself w/a joint statement from the 2 injured Marines who appeared w/Trump & the families of some of the #ServiceMembers killed, saying they wanted Trump & his cameras there [irrelevant & illegal].
“If the [#Trump] #campaign feels the need to defend their team’s actions — which include #bullying & physically pushing out of the way [#assault] a longtime #PublicServant & member of the team at #Arlington working to protect the sanctity of the sacred spaces — then that’s on them,” one #Defense ofcl said. “The rules were made clear to participants, & these two chose to disregard those rules. End of story.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
The incident has raised concerns about the #safety of #ArlingtonNationalCemetery staff members, the senior #Defense ofcl said, w/vitriol aimed at them initially on Monday by liberals, after the news coverage of #Trump at the #cemetery was published [really? I was immediately concerned for the staff & knew it was Trump et al being who they always are]. That has given way to language from #conservatives that also is “concerning.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
#Defense ofcls were concerned about the event Mon because #Republicans have frequently used the…[Afghanistan exit], as a #political cudgel. In advance of the event, #cemetery ofcls told #Trump’s team that he could come in his PERSONAL CAPACITY & bring PERSONAL aides, but NOT #campaign staff. Campaign advisers went anyway.
No hats, signs or banners were allowed, acc/to #military ofcls. No speeches.
#law #disrespect #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
[#Trump]…portrays himself as a champion of the #military, but #Democrats point to his public & private remarks denigrating #ServiceMembers.
“I just haven’t seen anything this disgusting. It is completely inappropriate to do any kind of #political activity on a federal installation, & it is #immoral …to conduct any kind of #SelfServing activity on a #cemetery w/the graves of our fallen,”said Paul Eaton, a ret #Army general & adviser to #VoteVets whose father’s remains are interred at #Arlington.
#Trump campaign spox #StevenCheung responded to the 1st report of the altercation, from NPR on Tues, by accusing, w/o evidence, the employee of “suffering from a mental health episode” [Im surprised he didn’t call the woman “hysterical” stereotypical #misogynistic crap]. #Defense ofcls said that the employee was trying to do her job & that the claim of a mental health episode was false.
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #misogyny #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
A #ArlingtonNationalCemetery employee tried to enforce the rules as provided to her by blocking #Trump’s team from bringing cameras to the graves of US #ServiceMembers killed in recent years, acc/to a senior #Defense ofcl & another person briefed on the incident. A larger male campaign aide insisted the camera was allowed & pushed past the #cemetery employee, leaving her shocked.
[that the employee was a #woman is probably 1 reason Trump et al were such #disrespectful dicks]
#DOD Ofcls said they wanted to respect the wishes of grieving family members who wanted #Trump there, but at the same time were wary of Trump’s record of #politicizing the #military. So they laid out ground rules they hoped would wall off #politics from the final resting place of those who paid the ultimate #sacrifice for their #nation. Instead, they got sucked into exactly the kind of crisis they were hoping to avoid.
#law #Traitor #criminal #disrespect #ServiceMembers
#HarrisWalz2024
The campaign video… showed #Trump appearing during a…ceremony memorializing 13 US troops who were killed…during the US evacuation from Afghanistan. Trump is seen in the video at the Tomb of the Unknowns & walking among marble headstones as soft guitar music plays & Trump is heard criticizing the Biden admin’s handling of the withdrawal.
[In blatant disregard for the #law prohibiting political &/or campaign activity in #military #cemeteries.]
#Trump’s running mate, Sen #JDVance, turned the incident into a #political attack during a #campaign speech in Erie, PA, on Wednesday. “We’re going to talk about a story out of those 13 brave, innocent Americans who lost their lives,” he said. He then falsely accused #Harris of criticizing Trump’s visit to the #cemetery, which she hasn’t commented on. A Harris campaign spox called it “pretty sad.”
#law #disrespect #military #ServiceMembers #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #USpol
#HarrisWalz2024
#Trump campaign posts #video from #ArlingtonCemetery after altercation
A #US #defense ofcl said the Trump campaign was told repeatedly that they could not capture photos & video in #Section60, the final resting place of many recent fatalities.
Trump posted video from #ArlingtonNationalCemetery 2 days after the altercation in which defense ofcls said #cemetery staff sought to enforce guidelines the campaign had received.
#law #military #ServiceMembers
#HarrisWalz2024
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/27/trump-arlington-cemetery-npr-incident/
Trump campaign posts video from Arlington Cemetery after alleged altercation
An NPR source said a cemetery official was pushed and verbally accosted as they tried to block campaign aides from photographing.Dan Lamothe (The Washington Post)
