Army releases report on incident involving Trump campaign aide at Arlington cemetery

The U.S. Army on Friday released a heavily redacted copy of a police report stemming from an August incident in which a staffer from former President Donald Trump’s campaign allegedly pushed an Arlington National Cemetery worker.

The report, which describes the incident as a “simple assault,” says that on Aug. 26 the campaign staffer used “both” hands while trying to move past the cemetery worker, who NBC News previously reported had attempted to stop the staffer from taking photos. The names of both people were redacted.

According to the report, the cemetery employee didn’t need medical attention on scene “and later refused when offered.” The worker also did not want to press charges, the report said.

A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night on the Army documents.

An Army spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but told Politico in a statement: “The law enforcement investigation into the incident remains open and we are therefore unable to provide further information at this time.”

The internal documents were released by the Army after American Oversight, a government ethics and transparency group, sued to obtain the report. The group shared a copy of the report on its website after a judge ordered the Defense Department to provide the documents.

Trump was at the cemetery on the day of incident. He had taken part in a wreath-laying ceremony commemorating three years since 13 U.S. service members were killed during an attack by the Islamic State outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan. Trump later headed to a restricted part of the cemetery known as Section 60, where the incident took place.

Arlington National Cemetery released a statement at the time pointing to a federal law barring political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, including the use of photographers.

An Army spokesperson also said in August that the Trump campaign aide had “abruptly pushed aside” a cemetery employee who was trying to enforce restrictions on taking photos and video in that area. The same spokesperson said at the time that the Army considered the matter closed.

Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung previously denied elements of the incident, saying that there “was no physical altercation as described,” and that an unnamed person “decided to physically block” members of Trump’s team.

Trump has come under increasing scrutiny on military issues after former White House chief of staff John Kelly told The New York Times in interviews published this week that his former boss fell under “the general definition of fascist,” had praised Hitler, and questioned the selflessness of fallen service members during a 2017 visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day.

The former president also reportedly said in a private conversation at the White House, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had,” according to The Atlantic.

Trump has denied making the remarks reported by The Atlantic and recounted by Kelly.