PIERRE, SD (AP) — South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem got a warm Christmas present from her staff — literally.
Noem’s staff presented him with a Pulsefire LRT flamethrower with a plaque engraved with the state’s motto, “Under God, the people rule,” the Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reported Tuesday.
A video posted on Twitter on Sunday shows Noem, dressed in camouflage, using a flamethrower to set fire to a stack of cardboard boxes on a snowy farm. Throw one last blast of flame at the boxes, raise your arm with a flourish and say “Boom, perfect.”
According to Tennessee-based ammunition company MidSouth Shooters, a Pulsefire LRT costs about $650. Noem spokesman Ian Fury said no fees had been paid for the acquisition.
The gift follows a photo on Twitter of Noem holding a flamethrower with the caption: “Too late to add something to my Christmas list?” went viral in 2020.
Some critics on social media complained that as Noem burned the boxes, media reports emerged that thousands of American Indians on the Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations were trapped without heat during a severe winter storm. The citizens of Pine Ridge had to burn their clothes after the propane supply stopped and there was no firewood.
At least one person, a 12-year-old Rosebud Sioux girl, died because she could not get medical attention.
Fury noted that the state Department of Public Safety cleared roads on both reservations, coordinated the transport of dozens of dialysis patients to Rapid City, assisted stranded drivers and delivered food, firewood and propane to the communities. Noem also declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard to deliver firewood to the Rosebud and Oglala Sioux tribes.
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