Ships Sink On Labor Day Weekend During Patriotic Event Supporting Trump
Boat owners, in a show of support for Donald Trump, held a boat parade on Lake Travis near Austin over the Labor Day holiday weekend. During the event, several vessels sank or capsized in the lake.
NPR reports that the weather was calm and mostly sunny, and the participants were ready to show their support of the President in the upcoming election. The festivities were marred when five boats in the parade sank to the bottom of Lake Travis.
Organizers of the event called to participants to deck out their boats with as many Trump flags that the vessels could handle to “make a statement.” It is believed there may have been as many as 8,000 people in attendance at the Lake Travis event.
Brent Terhune, owner, and captain of the SS MAGAritaville took the advice to heart. In a video posted to Facebook and Twitter, and had as many as nine of the heavy nylon flags mounted to the cabin of his vessel, at least two of them were on eight-foot flag poles. Terhune believes that it may have been a sudden shift in the wind and the weight of those flags that caused his vessel to sink.
The Travis County Sheriff’s Department received 15 distress calls in addition to three other incidents of vessels taking on water from a local towing company. According to the statement released by the TCSO, “The distress calls varied and included: boats taking on water, stalled engines, capsized boats and boats sinking.”
According to Lake Travis Firefighter Branden Frame, although rescuers had to pull multiple people from the waters of Lake Travis. Thankfully, no injuries were reported.
