The group, Code Pink, got approval from the National Park Service to have the balloon present between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET on July 4 on a section of the National Mall near the Washington Monument.
The permit states that “all balloons are prohibited” on the National Mall, but that the service would allow the Trump balloon to be present if it adhered to certain conditions, including being “filled with cold-air only and unable to achieve flight.”
Trump is set to deliver remarks nearby at the Lincoln Memorial during the “Salute to America” event, which will take place from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET.
According to the statement, the group had requested to fly the balloon “on the large, empty expanse at the base of the Washington Monument that would not have obstructed anyone’s view but would have allowed the president to see the baby.”
“It is ironic that it is right here, in the ‘land of the free,’ the balloon is being grounded,” Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin said in the statement.
“We are now trying to get the waiver from the FSDO, but feel this bureaucratic process is designed to force us to just keep the baby on the ground, instead of floating it in the air,” Tighe Barry, a Code Pink organizer, said in the statement. “It’s ridiculous that we have to contact the FAA to hoist a balloon two feet off the ground.”
CNN’s Aileen Graef and AJ Willingham contributed to this report.
Source : Nbcnewyork