VALPARAISO, Ind. (WISH) – A 9/11 tribute parade sponsored by the Valparaiso Republican has become the target of criticism across the country.
The float, which was one of many of the annual popcorn festival of Valparaiso, presented on Saturday, with two identical structures, similar to those of the towers, with the smoke coming out of a hole in each of them.
“And the prize for the most tasteless Popcorn Fest float goes for it,” reads the text of a viral TikTok showing up on the screen.
In a YouTube video of the float passing by, you can hear many of the people expressing their disbelief.
But that was just the beginning of the criticism.
On Monday, the screen had generated national disapproval.
The New York Post called the float “tasteless.”
“Talk about a 9/11 memorial missing a mile,” TMZ wrote.
Republican Valparaiso’s Facebook page has removed all photos of its controversial float and issued a statement about its display.
Our Popcorn Festival float was inspired by the courage and sacrifice of those we lost on September 11, 2001 and most recently in Kabul, Afghanistan. It seemed important to us, considering that the parade coincided with the twentieth anniversary of that horrible day and that Indiana welcomed home one of the fallen Afghans the next day, to dedicate our float not to politics and to candidates, but to innocent civilians, first to respond. and brave soldiers who died and whose memories we will never forget. We did not want any disrespect and regret that our tribute to the lost lives and those who continue to serve was for some perceived bad taste.
Michael Simpson | President of the Porter County GOP