March 3, 2026

Sir,

I have protested at the Trump statue twice. This was to protest, and to promote a city ordinance I want to have passed. The ordinance would require that any presidential statue on public property in Rapid City have a traffic cone on its head IF that president was convicted of a felony or felonies. You can read it at conethefelons.org. While protesting, to demonstrate my proposal, I put a traffic cone on the Trump statue’s head. I carried a sign and had flyers that included the proposed ordinance.

This cone is made of plastic with a rubber base, and in no way harms the statue. When I finish my protest I leave, taking the cone with me.

The first time, a person walked up and stole my cone. As he drove off, I got a photo of his vehicle license. A policeman who saw the theft came over, and through him the thief eventually brought back the cone. That policeman saw no problem with me using the cone as a prop for my protest, since it is not harmful to the statue and goes away when my protest is over.

Yesterday was the second time I protested at the statue with the traffic cone. This time, an irate citizen came up and told me what I was doing was illegal and he had called the police. He took the cone off the statue and put it on my head. Rather than have a physical altercation I simply waited for the police.

The first policeman came and I tried to explain that I was protesting, and handed him a flyer that contained my proposed ordinance, but he refused to read it. I thus tried to explain the context of the cone and why I was using it. He told me it was illegal for me to put the cone on the statue and was considered defacing public property. A police supervisor came and gave me the same interpretation and said if I put the cone back on the statue I would be arrested. I asked what ordinance covered that, and he said “many ordinances” but gave no specifics. He stayed about 15 minutes I assume to make sure I didn’t put the cone back on. I left after that.

So my question is, will I be arrested if I put a non-damaging traffic cone on Trump’s statue while protesting and promoting my ordinance? Again, it is completely harmless to the statue, and goes away with me when I leave. Is there an ordinance that prevents me from using a harmless prop when I protest at the statue? At this time, I have contradictory input from the police about this, so I am asking you.

Sincerely,