An American flag was hung upside down on El Capitan at Yosemite National Park on Saturday following the firing of about 1,000 National Park Service employees by the Trump administration.
The flag was draped over El Capitan, a 3,000-foot mountain of sheer granite hanging over the valley and one of the park's most popular attractions. Photographer Brittany Holt captured the moment the group dropped the flag over the granite giant.
Yosemite employees who were fired by the Trump administration recently said they worried cuts would affect the experience of visitors and the welfare of wildlife that thrive in the popular vacation destination located in California’s Sierra Nevada.
The Trump administration last week fired about 1,000 newly hired National Park Service employees who maintain and clean parks, educate visitors and perform other functions as part of its broad-based effort to downsize government.
Facing outcry, the administration plans to restore at least 50 jobs across the parks. The park service also said in a new memo it will hire more seasonal workers than normal. The park service has about 20,000 employees.
At least a dozen of those who lost their jobs worked at Yosemite.
A flag displayed upside down is intended to be a signal of "dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property," according to The American Legion's Flag Code.
It's unclear if those who displayed the flag were visitors or park employees.
Hundreds of visitors flock to Yosemite Valley this time of year to see Horsetail Fall at El Capitan. The glowing waterfall, a phenomenon created by the setting sun, usually only appears in the later part of February,
