Kennedy family sues to block Trump arch saying it will leave JFK flame in shadows

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The Kennedy family says that Trump’s planned 250-foot arch amounts to ‘illegal interference with Arlington National Cemetary’

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The Kennedy family has joined a lawsuit filed against the construction of President Trump’s controversial ceremonial arch.

​The planned 250-foot arch, which has been nicknamed “The Arc de Trump” on social media, is slated to be built near Arlington Cemetery. ​

The triumphal arch - sketches and models of which are replete with gold ornamentations and huge bird statues - has become increasingly controversial, with a judge temporarily blocking its construction last week.

​On Tuesday, nine members of the Kennedy family joined existing litigation aimed at stopping the huge project - alleging that it would overshadow their relatives’ graves and block the view of the eternal flame at President Kennedy’s grave site, court filings obtained by The Independent show.

​“The gigantic proposed arch is an illegal interference with Arlington National Cemetery and the heroes remembered there, including at the gravesites and memorials of the Kennedy brothers and Ethel Kennedy,” a statement from the family’s lawyers at the Democracy Defenders Fund reads. “Only Congress has the constitutional power to authorize an intrusion of this magnitude.

​“Today, members of the Kennedy family are joining with the other litigants in this case to protect this historic site - and to defend the rule of law and separation of powers.”

​U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled last week that there will be a 14-day pause in the arch’s construction, but is currently weighing a longer-term delay. Her decision followed an 8-4 vote by the National Capital Planning Commission approving the project.

​The nine members of the Kennedy clan joining the lawsuit brought by the state of Virginia and Washington D.C. include seven children of Robert and Ethel Kennedy and their grandson Joe Kennedy, the filing, also seen by the BBC, states.

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من The Independent. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.