“Do we actually have to say, ‘don’t hit golf balls into the Grand Canyon?’”
That’s what Grand Canyon Nationwide Park posted on social media sooner or later after a social media influencer posted a video of herself {golfing} on the sting of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim, east of Mather Level.
Within the video, which appeared on 20-year-old Katie Sigmond’s accounts on Oct. 26, Sigmond hit a golf ball and subsequently misplaced most of her membership when the motive force’s shaft flew into the canyon after the ball.
Social media customers had been fast to share Sigmond’s stunt on platforms such because the r/NationalPark subreddit, the place a display screen recording of Sigmond’s Snapchat Story garnered greater than 900 feedback. Commenters condemned Sigmond for littering in addition to endangering folks and wildlife beneath her. The influencer — who has a mixed 10 million followers throughout TikTok and Instagram — was going viral for the fallacious causes and he or she appeared to delete the posts.
After receiving ideas in regards to the incident, Grand Canyon legislation enforcement recognized and contacted Sigmond inside a day of her posting {the golfing} video. The Nationwide Park Service supposed to cost her with three misdemeanor offenses.
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Sigmond acquired three federal violation notices — that are tickets issued by legislation enforcement departments for U.S. businesses such because the Nationwide Park Service and U.S. Forest Service — and was charged with three Class B misdemeanors as detailed beneath Title 36 within the Code of Federal Laws.
The three prices had been for tossing objects into the Grand Canyon, littering and creating hazardous circumstances with disorderly conduct. She was solely cited for disorderly conduct and tossing or throwing objects into the canyon, which carry a most tremendous of $5,000 and 6 months in jail, in accordance with a duplicate of the written file of the collateral forfeiture settlement that the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Arizona supplied to The Arizona Republic.
Sigmond was ordered to pay a $285 tremendous, which incorporates $60 in processing charges. A spokesman for the Administrative Workplace of the U.S. Courts confirmed to The Republic that the Central Violations Bureau acquired two funds of $155 and $130 from Katie Sigmond on Nov. 15.
Although Sigmond initially confronted an look on the U.S. District Court docket in Flagstaff, her case was resolved by means of a collateral forfeiture settlement with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace in Arizona. In different phrases, she paid fines for the misdemeanor prices to the Texas-based Central Violations Bureau, which processes tickets and funds for “petty offenses dedicated on federal property,” in accordance with its web site.
This successfully closed Sigmond’s case with no convictions on her file. She didn’t reply to an emailed request for remark.
Details about the fines for varied federal violations, comparable to spitting on U.S Division of Veterans Affairs property and possessing bald or golden eagles with out a allow, might be discovered on the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Arizona’s web site at https://www.azd.uscourts.gov/19-14.
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Sigmond, who is predicated in Southern California, is thought for posting movies of herself understanding, touring, dancing and {golfing}, in addition to performing public stunts and pranks. However she’s removed from the one particular person to pitch one thing into the Grand Canyon.
In October 2021, a customer was pictured hitting baseballs from the Yavapai Geology Museum on the South Rim. After the Nationwide Park Service solicited tricks to establish the particular person, he contacted NPS legislation enforcement to establish himself, in accordance with Joëlle Baird, a spokesperson with the Grand Canyon Nationwide Park’s Public Affairs Workplace.
It’s not clear whether or not the person was cited for his actions.
Baird advised The Republic that the NPS is conscious that these sorts of stunts are occurring on the Grand Canyon and has acquired comparable movies to Sigmond’s.
“It’s unlucky that it occurs,” she mentioned.
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The NPS desires the general public to know that launching objects over the rim of Grand Canyon shouldn’t be solely unlawful — it is harmful as the article may hit a hiker or animal when it falls and even begin a landslide by dislodging rocks.
Damaging the panorama is against the law on federal land and is disrespectful as a result of the Grand Canyon is the ancestral homeland of Native populations, together with the Hualapai and Havasupai tribes. As we speak, the nationwide park acknowledges 11 tribes which can be historically related to the Grand Canyon.
Individuals who need to ship ideas concerning public security or help investigations can contact the Investigative Companies Department by calling or texting the ISB’s tip line at 888-653-0009, submitting a web based kind at https://www.nps.gov/ISB or emailing nps_isb@nps.gov.
Attain the reporter at kimi.robinson@gannett.com. Observe her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.
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This text initially appeared on Arizona Republic: TikTok star fined for hitting golf ball into Grand Canyon
