Legal expert says Trump campaign violated rules when visiting Arlington National Cemetery

The public outrage over Donald Trump’s behavior during a Visit to Arlington National Cemetery on August 26, 2024.

Since that visit to the US military cemetery outside Washington, DC, News reports and campaign photos have emerged showing the previous president with a broad grin and a “thumbs up” gesture behind the grave of an American soldier killed through the US evacuation from Afghanistan 2021These pictures also show the graves of two US Army Green Berets.

The Trump campaign team later released a video showing images of him at Arlington National Cemetery with audio criticizing the Biden administration for his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump’s political posturing and seemingly carefree demeanor at a spot marked with signs calling it “America’s most sacred sanctuary” have many critical comments within the mediaincluding former military leaders.

Trump, for his part complained to Truth Social on September 3, 2024, that the reports of the incident were a “fabricated story by Comrade Kamala and her disinformation squad.” His campaign team says it had permission from the family of a soldier buried in Arlington for taking photos and videos within the cemetery.

But as a legal scholar Specialized in cemetery lawI do know their permission is irrelevant. They will not be cemetery officials. The law allows cemeteries to set their very own rules.

And Arlington National Cemetery has by far the strictest rules of any cemetery within the United States. It is obvious to me that the actions of Trump and his campaign team violate the principles of a spot that requires its visitors to “behave with dignity and respect at all times.”

A singular legal situation – and a novel cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery, where over 400,000 US soldiers and relations were buried, is one in every of the 164 national cemeteries established by Congress and administered by the federal government. These cemeteries were first created in 1862through the civil war.

Most cemeteries have now been converted into Department of Veterans Affairs or National Park Servicebut Arlington National Cemetery stays under the control of the Ministry of Army.

Arlington will not be an atypical cemetery. According to federal law, it’s “a national shrine for the honored dead of the armed forces.” Therefore, the law states: “Certain acts and activities which may be appropriate elsewhere will not be appropriate in Arlington.”

In general, cemetery owners – religious organizations, local authorities, non-profit organizations, for-profit corporations and families – determine who may be buried on their property, the dimensions and layout of the graves, and the rights of grave owners. Cemeteries can set rules of conduct for visitors and regulate what activities can happen within the cemetery.

These rules take precedence over the desires of the relations of those buried in a cemetery. For example, cemeteries may prohibit families from placing plastic flowers on a grave or require that headstones make sure shapes or sizes.

A temporary summary of the events

Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery on the invitation of members of the Families of two US Marines killed in a bomb attack at Kabul airport on August 26, 2021.

After the wreath laying ceremony in Tomb of the Unknown Soldierwhich honors Americans killed in war, Trump and his campaign team, accompanied by Marine relations, visited the grave of at the least one in every of those killed Marines.

As Trump's campaign team took photos and videos of Trump and the others standing among the many graves, a cemetery worker approached him and explained that political activity was prohibited at Arlington. A Trump campaign staffer reportedly ignored the warning and “insulted and pushed the officer aside”, says NPR.

The cemetery worker reported the encounter to the military police However, he declined to press charges – allegedly because Fear of harassment by Trump supporters.

The next day, the military itself took the weird step of issuing a formal statement reprimanding a public figure for inappropriate behavior in one in every of his cemeteries.

“Federal law prohibits political election campaigns or election-related activities at U.S. Army military cemeteries,” the Aug. 27 statement said, “including photographers, content creators, or other individuals present for specific purposes or in direct support of a partisan political candidate's campaign.”

Arlington's Rules

Many modern cemeteries allow every kind of activities, even Conducting running competitions or Film evenings.

Not Arlington.

The rules prohibit jogging, bicycling, picnicking, and animals aside from service animals or military dogs. “Disrespectful and disorderly” behavior is expressly prohibited at Arlington, and all visitors “must adhere to reasonable standards of decency and propriety” while on the cemetery. The rules also prohibit “party political activities.”

In general, the Public may take photos in Arlington, in addition to the media, with prior approval and accompanimentHowever, from at the least April 2022, nobody will likely be allowed to film within the cemetery for “partisan, political or fundraising purposes“ – and that’s exactly what Trump seems to have done.

His team also violated one other rule – that gravestones can’t be filmed without written permission from the deceased’s next of kin. Trump’s campaign team apparently received permission from at the least one family to film their relative’s gravestone, nevertheless it didn’t get permission from the families connected to all gravestones visible within the footage.

Punish

The rules for visitors to Arlington National Cemetery will not be criminal laws. Violation of those rules cannot lead to a jail sentence or perhaps a superb. Instead, the cemetery's executive director has has the authority to remove the perpetrators from the cemetery and prohibit them from returning. The army said it was “considers the matter closedand didn’t say whether anyone was told to not return to the cemetery.