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3 Oct 2013

‘Victims’ of the US shutdown: from goats to the KKK

It is not just 800,000 federal employees who are suffering in the US government shutdown. As state-run institutions shut up shop, everyone, from goats to the Ku Klux Klan, has been affected.

Those affected by the US shutdown include goats and members of the KKK (pictures: Getty)

As the two houses of Congress continue with the “battle of the budget”, weddings were put in jeopardy, campers were evicted from national parks, and a Twitter feed that tells people if there are asteroids heading towards earth has been closed.

Racist rally

One cancelled event was a rally of Ku Klux Klan members at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The decision to allow a Maryland-based faction of the white supremacist movement to hold a rally at the park, the site of the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War, had caused outrage.

The Klan is not an outlawed organisation in the United States, though its numbers have steadily declined, and its membership is thought to be between 2,500 and 5,000 today.

The Park Service justified the permit at the time by saying: “The National Park Service mission in preserving and protecting the historic resources at Gettysburg includes making them available to all Americans, even those whose views are contrary to the majority of the American public.”

National parks have been closed, forcing campers to leave and endangering a wedding (picture: Reuters)

However, the failure by congress to approve the federal budget, which funds many parts of US life including national parks, meant officials at the park said they were forced to rescind all permits for special events due to the shutdown.

Campers

It has also meant campers in various national parks, from Yosemite to Yellowstone, have been forced to pack up, after being given two days to leave.

Thora Johannson and her sister wanted to spend one more night camping at the Grand Canyon, but were forced to pack up and head home, The San Mateo Daily Journal reported.

“It’s a terrible thing to hold the national parks hostage to bickering parties,” Ms Johannson said. “This is really sad. People have been saving to come here. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Goats

And it isn’t just humans who have seen their daily routines interrupted, but also goats.

At Fort Hancock Gateway National Recreation Area, home to a historic mortar battery, a herd of poison ivy-eating goats have been taken off duty.

The goats were brought in to eradicate the poison ivy, but have been taken back to a farm in upstate New York as their owner feared the park would be shuttered.

Monuments including the Statue of Liberty have closed (picture: Reuters

Elsewhere, the Statue of Liberty, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the Lincoln Memorial and Alcatraz are amongst the tourist attractions now sealed off to the public.

#ShutdownWedding

In the US capital, however, something even more sacrosanct than world war two military equipment was at stake – the institution of marriage.

A couple’s wedding at the Jefferson Memorial, in Washington DC, is due to take place on Saturday. Mike Cassesso and MaiLein Le had intended to tie the knot at the memorial where they held their first date.

There’s is one of nine weddings due to take place this week on Washington DC’s National Mall. Another couple’s marriage at the Grand Canyon is also under threat.

Mr Cassesso has caught the US media’s attention through the hashtag #shutdownwedding.

But for those with their thoughts on even more life-changing events, the shutdown might be proving problematic.

A NASA Twitter feed that informs the public about any potential hazardous asteroids heading towards earth – @AsteroidWatch – has closed.

A Tweet on the account said: “Due to the gov’t shutdown, all public NASA activities/events are cancelled or postponed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Channel 4 News was unable to confirm one Twitter user’s suggestion that House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, had put Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck on standby.

Despite the various hardships the US public is now facing, some have turned to humour.

One trending hashtag on Twitter has been #shutdownpickuplines. Channel 4 News lists a few of our favourites below.