Shutdown halts National Parks Service Martin Luther King Memorial wreath laying ceremony for MLK Day

WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Martin Luther King III came to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial for MLK Day Monday, even as the National Parks Service was not able to put on the official wreath laying ceremony this year due to the government shutdown.

The National Parks Service, which oversees the National Parks and Memorials in D.C. has been running on limited funding due to the shutdown and have been using guest admission fees to help the parks stay open.

NPS confirmed the halt to plans for the ceremony to Fox News.

Family, friends and admirers of the civil rights activist came to honor him with their own wreaths and tokens to pay tribute.

Martin Luther King Jr's son Martin Luther III arrived at the memorial to pay his respects.

President Trump arrived shortly after 11 a.m. came to pay tribute with a wreath, joined by Vice President Mike Pence.

The president and vice president laid a wreath at the foot of the memorial statue. The president did not respond to questions about the government shutdown during the short appearance.

The New York Post reports Martin Luther King III had spoken earlier in the day at a breakfast honoring his father in D.C. for the National Action Network about comments made by Vice President Pence, who invoked Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech in defending the president's standoff with Congress over $5.7 billion in funding for the wall.

"The vice president attempted to compare the president to Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a bridge builder, not a wall builder. Martin Luther King Jr. would say, 'Love, not hate, will make America great,'" said King.

In Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park was reopened on Monday for MLK day, after being closed for weeks due to the shutdown.

Late last week Delta Airlines announced that it was contributing $83,500 to reopen all four historic sites in the city -- including the visitor center, Dr. King's birth home, the Heritage Sanctuary where Dr. King preached, and one of the first desegregated firehouses in the South.

That money, along with recreational fees collected by the National Park Service, will provide enough funding to keep the Park fully functioning until after Super Bowl weekend.