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Activists Put Banner on Mount Rushmore

AP
posted: 7 HOURS 9 MINUTES AGO
comments: 460
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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (July 9) - Environmentalists using park service rock anchors scaled Mount Rushmore on Wednesday and unfurled a banner along President Abraham Lincoln's face challenging America's leaders to stop global warming.
Eleven people were charged with trespassing and the misdemeanor crime of climbing on Mount Rushmore National Monument, U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley said. They pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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Greenpeace activists scale Mount Rushmore
Kate Davison, Greenpeace / AP

Greenpeace activists rappel down Mount Rushmore Wednesday and hang a large banner challenging the president to fight global warming. Eleven of the people involved in the incident were charged with trespassing and could face six months in prison.

The environmental group Greenpeace said in a statement that three of its members hung the banner on Mount Rushmore while other activists blocked access to the site. Greenpeace said the climbers, using existing rock anchors that the park service uses for occasional cleanings, went up the back of the monument, then rappelled down its face to unfurl a 65-by-35-foot banner reading, "America honors leaders not politicians: Stop Global Warming."
Jackley said he could not confirm Greenpeace's account.
Mount Rushmore Ranger Nav Singh said security warnings and tourists alerted officials when the banner was unrolled. The banner was removed about an hour after it was unfurled.
"You can't create any security system that's 100 percent fail-safe. There's just not enough resources for that," Singh said. "Determined individuals that are properly equipped and willing to do damage to government property can do this sort of thing."
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Embedded video from CNN Video
Twelve people were taken away in handcuffs and foot chains. The 12th person taken into custody was released without being charged, Jackley said. He would not say why.
The National Park Service said in a statement that its staff and security detected the activists early and responded "within minutes." Visitors were not in danger, authorities said.
Park service staff remained at the mountain Wednesday to assess damage to the sculpture and security systems. When asked about possible damage, Jackley said the activists had not been charged with property damage, but he noted that the investigation was ongoing.
The 60-foot-high faces of four U.S. presidents — Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt — are carved into the granite on the southeast face of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Together, the faces extend 185 feet.
A number of demonstrations have taken place at Mount Rushmore over the years. In the early 1070s, American Indian Movement members tried several times to occupy and deface the monument. In August 1970, AIM members hung a banner with the words "Sioux Indian Power" on the monument.
In October 1987, Greenpeace activists tried unsuccessfully to unfurl a banner shaped like a gas mask over George Washington's face. That banner said, "We the People Say No to Acid Rain."
Security measures were beefed up after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The 11 activists charged Wednesday were released on their own recognizance after the court hearing. The activists were from eight states — California, Connecticut, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina and New York. A trespassing conviction carries up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine, prosecutors said.
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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2009-07-08 23:40:36
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Samboni1160

08:04 PMJul 10 2009

Yes, America honors leaders, but not those who lead us into financial ruin like Obama

AVG RATING:
(1)

TrekkinBob

07:53 PMJul 09 2009

EricW1004 06:34 PMJul 09 2009 Cruise doc .............you are a scientist and yet, are you still using the term "theory" in the pejorative sense?......................AOL hates people like us on their science articles. They tend to pull them when we scare away all of the denialists and religious feaks. Weird we haven't been banished altogether ourselves.

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TrekkinBob

07:49 PMJul 09 2009

Cattani 07:39 PMJul 09 2009 Feed the ridiculous pinheads to those iceburg riding polar bears they fraudulent claim were in peril................................he states even as he watches polar bears struggle to swim hundreds of miles back to safety, where they used to only swim a few yards between icebergs.

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TrekkinBob

07:44 PMJul 09 2009

Funny, the very same people who believe that ancient mythology and belief in a "savior" are the very same people who trash overwhelming scientific evidence for climate change, as well as try there very best, everyday, to convince us that Jesus will save us. I've gotten so goddamned tired of this "truth" often considered on par with what science has found, that I find myself pissing on green grass that I'm sure Jesus himself gave me.

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Joellen835

07:40 PMJul 09 2009

BY THE WAY JTONKINS: I COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE. BY THE TIME THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY WAKE UP TO WHAT THE DEMS HAVE DONE TO US WITH CAP AND TRADE, IT WILL BE TOO LATE TO RESCUE LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. THERE WON'T BE MUCH OF A LIFE LEFT TO RESCUE.

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Cattani

07:39 PMJul 09 2009

Feed the ridiculous pinheads to those iceburg riding polar bears they fraudulent claim were in peril.

AVG RATING:
(1)

Joellen835

07:36 PMJul 09 2009

Greenpeace could have bought quite a bit of newspaper space and aired the same words, for the amount of the fine they could get. At least that way, more people would probably have seen it....not just visitors to the site. Whether or not you agree with their statement, we can't allow anyone to use our national monuments for these purposes. If we did, anyone with any kind of message would have the freedom to say anything they wanted. I think they should be fined accordingly.

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TrekkinBob

07:35 PMJul 09 2009

BobKenz1 07:27 PMJul 09 2009 I thought they were calling it "Climate Change " now. Since the Earth cooled 1 degree celcius last year. Here in Pennsylvania, we've barely broken 80 this year so far. My fvcking tomatoes won't grow worth a shitt.................this is because Anchorage and Fairbanks are getting what you used to, not mention Barrow. This is the point - the polar regions are the first to feel this. The rest of you poor bastards only get to experience additional and enhanced hurricanes and tornadoes. (we only have to worry about a few 4.5 tectonic plate movements so far from the Old Testament's god's wrath)

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BobKenz1

07:27 PMJul 09 2009

I thought they were calling it "Climate Change " now. Since the Earth cooled 1 degree celcius last year. Here in Pennsylvania, we've barely broken 80 this year so far. My fvcking tomatoes won't grow worth a shitt.

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TrekkinBob

07:21 PMJul 09 2009

Cayce58 07:13 PMJul 09 2009 The arctic is 7 degrees warmer tnan normal. If you had a good long ice fishing season its because the north central states got all that arctic air. There was a day this winter when Barrows, Alaska was warmer than Minn. A lot of Alaska was in the 70's yesterday and Southern Pa, my home was the same. Its just insane compared to my childhood in the 60's..................I can testify that Anchorage was in the upper 80s yesteday and the day before. Today it is so smokey from at least 70 wildfires burning up north we cannot even see the mtns east of the city. This am I took photos of the sun that look as if the 4 Horsemen of the Apocapolypse are about to return. Email me for copies.

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