One of the two Donald Trump campaign staffers who got into a dispute with an Arlington National Cemetery worker helped set up the former president’s America First rally in Washington, D.C., that preceded the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, National Public Radio reported Friday.
NPR identified the staffers as deputy campaign manager Justin Caporale and Michel Picard, a member of Trump’s advance team.
It said it was making their names public because of the “campaign’s conflicting responses to the incident last week outside Section 60 of the cemetery.”
Trump has denied the altercation happened, saying it was a “made up story,” even though the U.S. Army said the employee was “abruptly pushed aside” by members of the former president’s team and filed an incident report on the confrontation.
Caporale is a former aide to former first lady Melania Trump.
NPR said he left the White House to work for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis but then returned to the Trump campaign.
He was listed as the on-site contact and project manager for the Women for America First rally when Trump called on the crowd to “stop the steal” and “fight like hell” before the mob descended on the U.S. Capitol, the report said.
The Arlington controversy began when Trump took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the cemetery on Aug. 26 to mark the third anniversary of the bombing in Afghanistan that killed 13 U.S. service members.
Afterward, Trump accompanied Gold Star families to Section 60 where those killed in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are buried.
The U.S. Army in its statement said team Trump was “made aware” of regulations prohibiting photographs and videos as part of “political activities on cemetery grounds.”
Despite the rules, Trump posed with the families among the headstones of the fallen, grinning and flashing thumbs-up signs.
Trump later posted a campaign video featuring his visit, and a veterans group attacked the former presidents for using the military graves as campaign props.
When the cemetery employee tried to enforce the rules, Caporale and Picard verbally abused her and Picard shoved her out of the way, NPR reported, citing sources in the Pentagon.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung last week said the employee was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode.”
The Army statement said the cemetery employee “who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside. Consistent with the decorum expected at ANC, this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.”
After the employee declined to press charges because of fears over retaliation, the Army deemed the matter closed.
Asked about Caporale and Picard’s role at the cemetery, Cheung replied to NPR: “As the Army has said, they consider this matter closed. President Trump was there to support the Gold Star families and honor the sacrifices their loved ones made.”
Caporale referred questions to Cheung.
Picard didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment from NPR.
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