SAN DIEGO (AP) — Authorities are looking into whether a man who they say wore a Ku Klux Klan hood while grocery shopping in a San Diego suburb over the weekend could face criminal charges, the sheriff’s department said Monday.
The unidentified man was photographed with the white hood while pushing a grocery cart at the store in the town of Santee on Saturday, a day after the county required people to wear masks outside to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
Store clerks asked him to take off the hood or leave the store, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. He removed the tall, pointed hood that had two small eye holes cut into it, paid for his groceries and left.
Deputies were not called to the scene but are investigating to see if he could be charged with a possible hate crime, the department said.
“The Sheriff’s Department does not condone hate or any acts of intolerance in our communities,” the department said in a news release.
Santee Mayor John Minto issued a statement thanking “all who stepped forward to curtail this sad reminder of intolerance. Santee, its leaders, and I will not tolerate such behavior.”
