Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem sued the Biden administration on April 30 over their cancellation of Independence Day fireworks at Mount Rushmore this year.
Noem is demanding that the court restrain the banning of the fireworks permit and grant authorization “expeditiously,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Mount Rushmore is the very best place to celebrate America’s birthday and all that makes our country special,” Noem stated.
Mount Rushmore is the very best place to celebrate America’s birthday and all that makes our country special. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration cancelled our Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration.
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) April 30, 2021
So we're suing them to get the fireworks back. (1/) pic.twitter.com/MhzIj6DXeH
“After telling us they’d ‘circle back,’ the Biden Administration has not responded to our request to uphold the Memorandum of Agreement between the State of South Dakota and the National Parks Service to host a safe and responsible national celebration and fireworks show.”
She filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota Central Division, asserting that the Biden administration “departed from precedent and reneged on this agreement without any meaningful explanation.”
“We are asking the court to enjoin the [Department of Interior’s] denial of the fireworks permit and order it to issue a permit for the event expeditiously,” she said.
The governor requested the Biden administration to maintain a 2019 agreement between the state and the National Parks Service that gave permission for the return of fireworks in 2020, after more than 10 years of prohibition of fireworks celebration at the site.
The National Park Service rejected the attempt to display fireworks during Independence Day this year over CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus concerns and opposition from local tribes.
