Yosemite, CA — A man faces federal charges for allegedly jumping off Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park with a parachute.
The criminal complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California against Southern California resident, Jack Matthew Propeck.
Park Rangers were notified about the alleged illegal activity through a tip line, and the allegations were accompanied by screenshots from an Instagram video that Propeck had posted on his page.
The investigation into the incident noted that the lighting and shadows indicated that it was taken shortly after sunrise, when there are fewer visitors in the park. He allegedly landed in the Yosemite Valley area.
The reported incident happened around October 8, and the criminal complaint filed notes that when Propeck was contacted about it by authorities on October 20, he said that artificial intellegience had been used to superimpose his face into the video. The investigation, though, argued that there was no evidence to suggest that AI was used, and the video was consistent with many others posted to his account.
Propeck has been summoned to appear in federal court about the matter. Base jumping is prohibited in the park unless it is an emergency situation, or a special permit is issued, which, officials say, in this case there was not.
