On Friday, President Trump visited South Dakota to watch Mount Rushmore's first fireworks display in over a decade.
Seven thousand five hundred tickets were distributed for the event, and masks were not required. Attendees were seen gathered closely together, not adhering to social distancing guidelines, and few appeared to be wearing face masks.
Outside the event, Native American activists protested the president’s arrival. Some groups maintain the Black Hills, where Mount Rushmore is located, were illegally taken from the Lakota people.
There are also concerns about wildfires, with $350,000 of fireworks detonating over the forests and potentially dry conditions around Mount Rushmore.
Friday’s event is just one of multiple Fourth of July celebrations that the National Park Service declined to cancel despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
