South Dakota authorities on Sunday reported the first robbery of accidents, arrests and quotes from the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the western part of the state. The annual rally began on Friday, drawing thousands of maskless riders to the streets and bars of Sturgis.
While organizers have said they expect fewer visitors than in other years, the Argus Leader reports that the number of arrests and citations has increased from last year.
Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images
The Department of Public Safety reported that police made 84 arrests for driving under the influence or drug-related crimes in a 24-hour period, from Saturday to Sunday morning. That happened from last year, when 76 people were arrested in a similar time frame.
Police have also issued more citations, with 226 people receiving cards. The figure is 37 more than last year. But it seems that police are less linear this year and leave fewer people with warnings.
So far, police in the region have reported 18 accidents, which is down from last year’s mark of 20. None are fatal.
Shocked by the five million cases of coronavirus now counted in the US, thousands of motorcyclists confronted this weekend in Sturgis for what is being paid as the largest cycling event in the world.
“I’ve been here since early July,” one person in Sturgis told CBS News. “People are tired of being home, you know. This is where this rally started about is freedom.”
Michael Ciaglo / Getty Images
In June, city officials decided in an eight to one vote to continue with the rally, CBS branch KELO reports. In an email to CBS News, City of Sturgis Public Information Officer Christina Steele said the “decision to hold the rally came after hearing from thousands of attendees that they were coming to the event, even though it was canceled by the City of Sturgis. “
In recent years, the 10-day rally in the town of Sturgis has attracted hundreds of thousands of cyclists to socialize, drink and party together – raising fears among some locals that this year’s version could be a superspreader event .
For now, the north-central state is far from being hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic – Meade County, where Sturgis is located, has registered only one virus death, according to state health officials. But in the last two weeks, South Dakota has recorded an increase in the percentage of virus tests that return positive – and former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told “Face The Nation” that a second wave can be controlled harder.
“This has become so pervasive throughout the country that it could begin to infect more rural communities that have hitherto been largely untouched,” he said.
Some of the cyclists who streamed into the area come from distant conditions that are much more affected.
South Dakota, home of the famous massive sculpture of four former presidents on Mount Rushmore – where President Donald Trump held a rally last month – is one of the few that has never ordered a lockdown or worn a mask .
Participants in Sturgis are encouraged, but not required, to wear masks. A few appeared to have done so.
Until now, when the City’s Main Street is full of bicycles and bars full of cyclists, there is little evidence of social distance. The visitors of this 80th edition of the cycle rally are already large, the 6,000 inhabitants of Sturgis, more than betting in the hills of South Dakota.
The rally has long been an enormous economic reward for Sturgis, and vendors took full advantage of it on Sunday.
She paddled T-shirts marked “I have survived corona” or “God, guns and Trump” as a photo montage of the president wearing a leather jacket and making an obscene gesture.
While some locals worried about the two-wheeled intruders, the state governor embraced them heartily.
“We are excited for visitors to see what our amazing state has to offer!” tweeted Kristi Noem, a Republican and strong supporter of Trump.
Caitlin O’Kane contributed to this report.
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