Team USA was disqualified from the World Snow Sculpting Championship in Minnesota after using its entry to protest ICE. Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce president Robin Anthony-Evenson said Wednesday an alteration of the original design to include outstretched hands subtly saying in American Sign Language “ICE out” was pulled because it “did not comply with the rules of the competition.” She said rules stipulate “teams must adhere to their original submitted sketch” and “sculptures must respect cultural and social values, and avoid offensive, controversial, political, or inappropriate themes.” Team USA captain Dusty Thune said they “hadn’t necessarily planned on inserting any messages into the sculpture” but claimed poor snow conditions forced them to make alterations, Pioneer Press reports. “Sometimes the medium decides the way a piece is going to be created. Sometimes external events also have a hand in shaping what a piece will become.” The decision to change “A Call to Arms” came a week after the fatal shooting of 37-year-old mom Renee Good by an ICE agent. Organizers later removed some of the messaging and then the entire sculpture. “In hindsight, we should have taken it down right away, but we were trying to be nice,” Anthony-Evenson said. Canada won the 16-team competition. The U.S. didn’t place.
Read it at Twin Cities Pioneer Press
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