BISMARCK — Vice President
is expected to visit North Dakota on the Fourth of July.
Dickinson Mayor Scott Decker told the Tribune that “my understanding is, yes, he’s going to visit Dickinson and southwest North Dakota.”
“I know that his intention is to be here tomorrow morning, and so we’re going through, you know, security protocols, to provide that opportunity for him,” Decker said Thursday.
He referred other questions to the vice president’s office, which did not immediately respond to a Tribune request for comment.
Other local, state and federal officials on Thursday were mum about the anticipated visit, either not commenting publicly or not responding to Tribune requests for comment.
North Dakota Highway Patrol spokeswoman Lt. Jenna Clawson Huibregtse said, “The Highway Patrol does not provide trip plan information or information related to security for dignitaries in North Dakota due to security concerns.”
Officials from the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation and the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation did not immediately respond to Tribune requests for comment.
Dickinson is near the tourist town of Medora, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in the Badlands and the Roosevelt Presidential Library
Federal Aviation Administration records showed “temporary flight restrictions for VIP movement” in the area of the Dickinson airport for much of the day Friday, banning other aircraft.
Similar restrictions were in place around the Rapid City, South Dakota, airport for Thursday. Rapid City Mayor Jason Salamun confirmed to the
that Vance was visiting the Black Hills. He said he didn’t have details.
The flight restrictions in Rapid City were to be lifted at 9:30 a.m. Mountain time on Friday. They were scheduled to take effect around the Dickinson airport at 8:45 a.m. MT on Friday.