On September 5, 2020, participants at the ‘Trump Boat Parade’ needed rescuing after at least four boats sunk around noon on Lake Travis in Texas.
The New York Times reported, “Boaters were set to travel around the lake, which is about 15 miles northwest of Austin, at 10 miles per hour.”
According to the events Facebook page, they wanted to “really make a statement,” but organizers did not expect the event to make national news for the reason it did.
A call came in around 12:10 pm to report the first boat was taking on water and subsequently more boats faced the same fate. After mulling over the audio from these emergency calls, ABC News reported, “At least three boats went down in 30 minutes, according to dispatchers, who reported several sinking boats around Paradise Cove.”
“Five boats sank, three of which were removed from the water, the sheriff’s office said in a Sunday release,” USA Today stated. “Two boats remained submerged, it said.”
Strangely enough, this wasn’t the first time a a pro-Trump boat parade ended in emergency calls. “A similar incident took place during a parade on the Willamette River in Portland last month,” according to Bloomberg. However, there was less damage done with only one boat reportedly sinking.
While the the day brought good boating conditions, the large number of boats all starting their trek around the lake at the same time caused unsafe water conditions, CNN stated.
Organizers still plan to hold more boat parades in the future disregarding the tragedies of the past two parades.
