Nine members of the Kennedy family have filed a motion in federal court seeking to join a lawsuit aimed at stopping President Donald Trump from building a proposed 250-foot triumphal arch in Washington, saying it would damage the setting of their relatives’ graves at Arlington National Cemetery.
The filing
The family members filed on Tuesday to join an existing court case in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. They argue the arch “will permanently cast shadows over and damage historically significant sight lines to the existing grave sites and memorials established in the Kennedy family’s honor at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as to the memorials of hundreds of thousands of fallen American heroes”, the filing said.
The 250-foot (76-metre) arch, shown in a rendering to include a flame held by a 60-foot gold winged female figure and flanked by gold flying eagles, would sit across the Potomac River from the Lincoln Memorial on a highway roundabout near the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
Who joined — and who did not
The plaintiffs include former Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, Joseph Kennedy III, Edward M. Kennedy Jr., Kerry Kennedy, Courtney Kennedy and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, among others. They are children and grandchildren of Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Edward M. Kennedy, brothers of the former president who are buried near him at Arlington. The family is represented by the Democracy Defenders Fund.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a nephew of the assassinated former president, did not join the filing. The family argues the project lacks congressional approval and calls it an “unlawful construction project”.
A growing list of challengers
The Kennedys join a growing list of legal challengers to the project, including Vietnam War veterans represented by Public Citizen, Arlington County, Virginia, and the District of Columbia together with the Commonwealth of Virginia. A federal judge, Tanya Chutkan, issued a 14-day temporary restraining order on construction late on Thursday, November 5, shortly after the National Capital Planning Commission approved the arch 8-4. The order blocks construction through November 19 while she considers whether to issue a preliminary injunction.
