This Is Not The Way To Experience Mount Rushmore

On Sunday night, an Indiana woman tried to get up close and personal with George Washington on Mount Rushmore, but instead, she was arrested and charged with a federal violation.

Dakota News Now reports 20-year-old Molly Venderley from Bloomington, Indiana entered a guilty plea of Climbing Mount Rushmore during a hearing in federal court in Rapid City on Monday, January 4, 2021.

Venderley was charged with a total of three federal misdemeanors. Two of the lesser charges were dropped after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors. Venderley was fined $1,250 for climbing Mount Rushmore and released.

Vanderley told a park ranger that she climbed a monument when the park was closed and under the cover of darkness because she knew it was illegal.

How did she get caught? A park ranger saw Vanderley's flashlight on a security camera. By that time she had already made it to the base of George Washington's lapel.