One of Yosemite National Park’s most iconic sites had a “distress” signal hung on it by staff members in protest of recent layoffs by the Trump administration.
The inverted Stars and Stripes hung on the side of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot wall of sheer granite, on Saturday, Feb. 22.
Footage captured by Anand K Sankaran showed the flag being hung upside-down just before “firefall,” a period when Horsetail Fall, a small waterfall, “can glow orange when it’s backlit by sunset,” according to the park’s website.
Media outlets report that the act of protest was carried out by park staffers. According to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University, this practice has been observed for at least 50 years.
A close-up look of the upside-down flag hung in protest at Yosemite National Park in California. (Brittany Colt, www.brittanycolt.com, @brittanycolt)
Last week, the Trump administration fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government, the Associated Press reported.
Facing outcry, the administration plans to restore at least 50 jobs across the parks. The park service also said in a new memo it will hire more seasonal workers than normal. The park service has about 20,000 employees.
The flag was hung at a time when many tourists look at Horsetail Fall for the phenomenon that creates an orange glow. (Brittany Colt, www.brittanycolt.com, @brittanycolt)
At least a dozen of those who lost their jobs worked at Yosemite.
Neither the White House nor National Park Service responded to Fox News Digital requests for comment.
Flying a flag upside down is traditionally a sign of “dire distress,” the United States Flag Code states.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
