SANTEE, Calif. – A California man went grocery shopping wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood last week, one day after it become required to wear a mask in public due to coronavirus. The thoughtless individual said he didn’t mean to make “a racial statement” and won’t be facing charges, police said Monday.
The hooded man was spotted roaming the aisles of a Vons supermarket in Santee on May 2, reported The San Diego Union Tribune.
“The man expressed frustration with the coronavirus and having people tell him what he can and cannot do,” the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement to NBC News.
“He said that wearing the hood was not intended to be a racial statement. In summary, he said, ‘It was a mask and it was stupid.’”
Don’t know which angers me more – the person wearing this or the fact that no one in management @Vons Santee did anything about it. @ADL_SD would be happy to educate your team. San Diego is #NoPlaceForHate pic.twitter.com/jMOzQqpcoi
— Tammy Gillies (@tgilliesADL) May 3, 2020
A corporate spokeswoman said grocery clerks repeatedly asked the man to remove the hood or leave the store, located in a shopping center on Mission Gorge Road. A supervisor found the man in a checkout line and asked him again to take off the hood or leave, said Melissa Hill, a spokeswoman for Vons, Albertsons and Pavilions stores in Southern California.
The man removed the hood, purchased his items and left.
The man’s choice of face covering drew outrage on social media and from officials in the city of almost 60,000 residents.
“The Sheriff’s Department does not condone hate or any acts of intolerance in our communities,” the department said in a statement in response to Saturday’s incident. “We are a county that is welcoming of people from all backgrounds.”
“The images I’ve seen are abhorrent,” county Supervisor Dianne Jacob, who represents Santee and other surrounding communities, said in a statement. “This blatant racism has no place in Santee or any part of San Diego County. It is not who we are. It is not what we stand for and can’t be tolerated.”
However, the US attorney’s office and the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office looked into the matter and didn’t find enough evidence to charge the man. Police did not reveal his identity, Fox reported.
“This incident should serve as a reminder for anyone contemplating wearing or displaying items so closely associated with hate and human suffering that our society does not hold in high regard those who do so,” the sheriff’s department said in the statement.
“Santee is a city of families, and the community is rightfully disgusted at this man’s despicable behavior,” it added. “The Sheriff’s Department thoroughly investigates incidents such as these and will hold those who violate the law accountable.”
