A lawsuit has been filed in an effort to stop the UFC Freedom 250 event from occurring this coming weekend.
The filing, reported by The New York Post, argues that the event is unlawful, as it violates National Park Service regulations prohibiting sporting events on federal parklands. Congress did not agree to the arch surrounding the event space, the lawsuit notes.
Brendan Ballou, a lawyer involved in the case, said, “This is fundamentally a private, commercial, corrupt use of our most sacred national monuments for private gain. And that is what is motivating this lawsuit.”
In a statement to ESPN, the White House said in response to the lawsuit that it is an “obstructionist, baseless, and dilatory lawsuit brought simply to prevent President Trump from hosting what will undoubtedly go down as one of the most historic sporting events in our Nation’s history during our semiquincentennial celebration.”
“This iconic event is no different than the various other White House-hosted events on the South Lawn and properly permitted events on the Ellipse and National Mall throughout the year.”
President Trump announced the event last year. “Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there,” Trump told the crowd at the Iowa State Fairgrounds last year. “We’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana is going to do it. Dana is great, one of a kind — going to be a UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250’ also.”
