Katie Sigmond, the 20-year-old influencer who posted a video of herself hitting a golf ball and throwing a golf club into the Grand Canyon was fined $285 for the TikTok stunt
Sigmond was identified as the perpetrator after a video of her hitting a golf ball and throwing her golf club surfaced on the Grand Canyon Nation Park's Facebook page in October.
Sigmond originally posted the video to her TikTok page, which has more than 7 million followers, but has since deleted it.
Joelle Baird, a public affairs specialist for the Grand Canyon National Parks Service, told Insider the park reached out to Sigmond, who admitted to hitting the golf ball and throwing her club at the edge of the canyon's South Rim.
Sigmond was charged with three Class B misdemeanors for "creating hazardous conditions, littering, throwing the objects themselves." At the time, Baird explained that each charge could carry a fine of up to $1,000.
It's unknown if her third charge has been dropped, or is still ongoing. Insider has reached back out to the US Attorney's office for more information.
A woman who created a video of herself hitting a golf ball into the Grand Canyon before sharing it to her seven million TikTok followers has been fined.
Katie Sigmond later removed the video of the incident, which happened on 26 October, but her actions received considerable backlash on social media after the National Park Service (NPS) posted her original video on its Reddit page.
A social media influencer has been fined $285 after posting a video of herself firing a golf ball into the Grand Canyon on October 26.
Katie Sigmond has 7 million followers on TikTok and 3 million followers on Instagram, and is best known for prank videos, as well as both travel and golf-focused content.
Her golf swing at the Grand Canyon, however, quickly drew criticism, including from park officials.
“Do we really need to say, ‘don’t hit golf balls into the Grand Canyon?’” the Grand Canyon National Park said on Instagram.
In addition to criticism, the stunt also resulted in legal trouble for Ms. Sigmond, who eventually admitted to park rangers that she had been the one in the video, according to Joelle Baird, a spokeswoman for Grand Canyon National Park’s Office of Public Affairs.
Ms. Baird said that Ms. Sigmond, 20, was initially charged with littering, tossing items into the Grand Canyon and creating hazardous conditions with disorderly conduct. The U.S.
Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona recently resolved her case through an out-of-court agreement that resulted in a fine, Ms. Baird said.She did not know which charges were ultimately included in the agreement, and the federal prosecutor’s office did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
