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Salon
Salon
Politics
Nandika Chatterjee

Trump staff in cemetery scandal revealed

Two Donald Trump staffers who were involved in a physical altercation with an official at Arlington National Cemetery have now been identified, NPR reported.

According to NPR, the two men are Michel Picard, a member of Trump's advance team, and Justin Caporale, Trump's deputy campaign manager. The two verbally abused an employee who tried to prevent them from filming campaign material in Section 60 of the military cemetery, the resting place for many U.S. soldiers who lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Caporale previously served as an aide to Melania Trump, NPR reported, and also worked for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

In a statement last week, the U.S. Army said the employee, a woman, was later shoved aside when she tried to enforce the rule against using the grave sites for partisan political purposes.

The Trump campaign had been informed of the rules beforehand. Federal law also prohibits campaigning at Arlington National Cemetery.

Despite the prohibition, the Trump campaign definitely took photos. Indeed, it posted a campaign ad on TikTok using footage from the restricted area of the cemetery.

As the U.S. Army noted in its statement last week: "Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds."

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