‘Dinosaur 13′ the Story Of “Sue” Picks up an Emmy

Remember "Sue" the Tyrannosaurus rex found in western South Dakota back in August of 1990? She just won an Emmy.

The documentary film from Todd Miller called "Dinosaur 13" received an Emmy at a ceremony held in New York City on Monday night.

The film premiered on CNN on December 11, 2014. Pete Larson, founder of the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research and a main subject of the film, was among those in attendance.

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The film followed Larson and the institute's discovery of "Sue," the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered. It also showed the legal battle that ensued in the following years after the discovery, how the skeleton was seized by the federal government, and Larson was put under siege by the FBI, the National Parks Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Maurice Williams, the landowner on whose property the dinosaur was discovered.

According to Larson, "It was just so unbelievable that someone would come out and say something that wasn't true about where we collected Sue, and how political people could be."

The book "Rex Appeal" written by Kristin Donnan Standard, served as source material for the film.

Donnan Standard said, "I think what stands out most vividly is the sense of powerlessness that everyone had when the weight of the government is thrown against you. It takes very strong character to stand up to that, and Pete and everyone did."

Larson was given a 2-year prison sentence in the case. He ended up serving 18 months and spending two years on probation on charges of customs violations tied to an unrelated paleontology mission abroad.

Larson says it was the support from the community and his friends that helped him get through the whole ordeal.

During his Emmy speech on Monday night, Miller thanked CNN and his producers while calling Larson "one of the great scientists of the world" and advocated for a presidential pardon for him. The South Dakota House of Representatives passed a joint resolution last spring asking the president to pardon Larson.

Dinosaur 13 will have a special showing on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at 1 PM at the Rapid City Public Library, followed by a question and answer session by Larson and Donnan Standard.

Source: Rapid City Journal