New York Times published an article on 1st July 2020 reporting on the history of the famous Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. Their tweet announcing the article says "Mount Rushmore was built on land that belonged to the Lakota tribe and sculpted by a man who had strong bonds with the Ku Klux Klan. It features the faces of 2 U.S. presidents who were slaveholders.". Considering the many recent removals of statues in the USA (especially of persons related to the Confederate states) and elsewhere (e.g. in the UK) in recent months, it seems within reason that some kind of action against Mount Rushmore might be taken.
Will Mount Rushmore be intentionally destroyed or modified before 2025?
This question resolves positively if, before 2025, Mount Rushmore is damaged or modified, either with the complete removal of one or more faces or other substantial modification. The damage must be such that a typical person viewing before-and-after pictures of the full monument on a monitor can immediately identify the damaged version (admins will use their judgment in edge cases).
The relevant damage must be substantial and result in the structure not being fully repaired or restored within a ten day period.
Furthermore, one of the two conditions must be true:
- The damage/modification occurs as ordered by a US state or governmental entity
- A person or group damages Mount Rushmore without authorization, and explicitly states that their motivation was in some way related to racial inequality, slavery, or police brutality, and not, for example, tax protest or the Illuminati.
Hence, incidental damage (natural disasters, foreign nuclear strikes, etc.) is not counted.