MIDDLETOWN, Del. — Following complaints about a parade float portraying children in cages at the U.S. border, a Delaware mayor says the parody parade will not continue without established guidelines.
The News Journal reports Middletown Mayor Ken Branner told the standing-room-only crowd at Monday's council meeting that the city wouldn't issue permits for the 2020 Hummers Parade until the council approves guidelines. Branner's announcement reversed course from last week, when he said the city couldn't control the parade.
The parade held each New Year's Day began in 1971 as a spoof of Philadelphia's Mummers Parade.
It typically draws a few complaints, but state Sen. Stephanie Hansen says some of this year's floats "took a mean and nasty turn."
Self-proclaimed parade "disorganizer" Jack Schreppler previously told the newspaper he doesn't regulate the parade's content.
