Very good points from TPM Reader RS …
I respect the cemetery employee’s unfortunately-at-this-point-entirely-reasonable decision not to “press charges” in light of the potential for retaliation. But let’s not sugarcoat it: assaulting a federal employee in the performance of her duties is a felony (18 USC 111), full stop.
And in almost any other circumstance, someone doing that is going to be arrested, even if the US Attorney decides not to prosecute (or offer a misdemeanor). It’s not as if there weren’t law enforcement personnel there (including the former president’s own USSS detail) who witnessed the incident and would/could have acted.
I assume that cemetery management/the Army didn’t want to press the issue any more than the employee given the risk of blowback, but that we’ve reached the point where neither wanted to is not a good sign.
