US judge orders halt to Trump administration’s ‘censorship’ of park exhibits

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BOSTON (Reuters) – A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to reinstall exhibits and signs on topics like slavery and climate change that it had removed from parks and monuments nationwide because they “do not align with its preferred narrative.”

U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley in Boston issued a preliminary injunction at the behest of groups representing park conservationists, historians and scientists, saying the U.S. Department of the Interior’s actions under Trump set a “dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization.”

The National Parks Conservation Association, American Association for State and Local History, and four other groups had argued that the Interior Department was removing signs and exhibits in violation of congressional mandates governing how the 433 national park sites should be operated.

Kelley agreed, saying the government had removed dozens of signs at National Park Service-managed sites related to climate change, civil rights and diverse communities without authorization from the National Park Service Organic Act, the National Park Service Centennial Act, and the National Parks Omnibus Management Act.

Kelley, who was appointed by Democratic President Joe Biden, ordered the signs and exhibits restored within 21 days, “by the 250th anniversary to properly honor the remarkable achievements of the United States.”

The Interior Department in a statement called Kelley a “liberal activist judge” and said it was reviewing its options to appeal.

Kelley cited many examples of signs, displays, and exhibits being removed from parks under Trump “that do not align with its preferred narrative, thereby telling half-truths.”

Skye Perryman, whose liberal legal group Democracy Forward represented the plaintiffs, said Kelley’s decision “not only stopped further censorship, but recognized the need to restore the exhibits the administration already illegally removed.”