ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 28, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has apologized for the misuse of a photo taken at the Arlington National Cemetery, where he met with former Pres. Donald Trump, members of a Utah fallen soldier’s family, and others.
The photo — from a memorial service held Monday for Marine Staff Sgt. Darin Taylor Hoover, of Utah, and Marine Sgt. Nicole Gee of California — ended up in Cox’s campaign materials, which is forbidden by the cemetery.
The act was pointed out by Alan Wessman, a 2024 Utah County Commission candidate for the United Utah Party.
“Arlington National Cemetery forbids use of its grounds for political events,” Wessman posted on X.
“When an event there is billed as a private memorial service but is attended by campaign staff and photographers, and the photos get used in campaign mailers, it’s evidence that it was a campaign event.”
Cox sent an apology to Wessman, which Wessman also shared on social media. The letter said:
Dear Alan,
My campaign sent out an email this morning about an event I attended at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday. This was not a campaign event and was never intended to be used by the campaign.
The email did not go through proper channels and should not have been sent. Honoring those who serve should never be ‘political.’
We’re committed, as we move forward, to ensure that we run the best campaign possible and we’ll accomplish that not by politicizing things that shouldn’t be political.
Thank you, (signed) Spencer J. Cox
NPR reported on Tuesday that at the Monday event, “Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president participated in a wreath-laying ceremony.
“A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery officials tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried,” the NPR article says. “The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60.
“When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.”
Trump posted on Truth Social that he was invited by the families of those buried in Section 60 to be at the gathering, as were his photographer and videographer.
The post did not claim Trump and his campaign team had the cemetery’s permission to film and shoot photos. Such actions are prohibited by The Hatch Act, passed in 1939, which is designed to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan way.
The cemetery said in a statement, shared by TheHill.com, that “Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign.”
“Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants. We can confirm there was an incident, and a report was filed.”
