Kennedy family joins lawsuit against Trump administration over construction of “Arc de Triomphe”

Nine members of the Kennedy family have joined a lawsuit filed by Washington and the state of Virginia against the administration of the US President Donald Trump, demanding that construction of the 76-meter “Arc de Triomphe” at the entrance to the capital be halted.

This is reported by CNN.

Washington and Virginia filed a lawsuit against the project last month, with veterans, heritage advocates and Arlington County officials also joining the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says the archʼs location and design will ruin the view of family graves, including the eternal flame at the grave of President John F. Kennedy, which can be seen from the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

The family also claims that the arch would disrupt the historic axis between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery. This viewing corridor, according to its creators, symbolized the unification of the country after the American Civil War.

The lawsuit says the arch will be more than twice as tall as the Lincoln Memorial — about the height of a 25-story office building. The plaintiffs also say its scale and location will disrupt the atmosphere of funeral services at the cemetery.

The plaintiffs, including the children and grandchildren of President John F. Kennedyʼs brothers, Senators Robert and Edward Kennedy, say families have a right to protect their loved onesʼ burial sites. Their lawyers also said that a construction of this scale is an illegal encroachment on the cemetery grounds and that only the US Congress can authorize its construction.

• In August, the US National Park Service acknowledged that the construction would negatively impact 42 historic sites.
• On November 5, federal judge Tanya Chutkan banned the Trump administration from starting any work related to the archʼs construction for 14 days.

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