Wisconsin man, 50, wearing KKK robe and hood shocks neighbors as he walks his dog and waves at passing cars while drinking a beer
A man in Wisconsin has caused alarm by walking his dog while wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood.
Charles Michael Booth, 50, was identified by police as the man spotted Friday in Conover drinking a beer and waving at cars as he sported the KKK regalia while walking his dog.
Vilas County Sheriff Joseph Fath told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel his office received multiple calls about the man Friday evening.
Fath said that police responded and Booth told them he was 'just taking his dog for a walk'. He added that Booth was not committing any crimes.
Charles Michael Booth, 50, was identified by police as the man spotted Friday in Conover drinking a beer and waving at cars as he sported KKK regalia
'I don't anticipate any follow-up on it,' Fath said.
The incident sparked outrage among neighbors, however, including one who took a picture of Booth and shared it in disbelief.
One woman told the Journal Sentinel that she and her husband saw Booth walking his dog while in the KKK outfit. She called the event 'so surreal' and said Booth just 'politely waved'.
'We froze,' said the woman, who wished not to be named because she is one of Booth's neighbors and has what she called a 'mixed-race' family.
'We knew what we were looking at, but we didn't know why. We were so in shock,' she said.
Gregory Jones, president of the Dane County NAACP, called the incident a 'terrorist act'.
Two men in KKK hoods tried to disrupt a Black Lives Matter rally last week in Nevada
'(Booth) intended to project what I believe to be white supremacist behaviors by wearing this garb,' Jones said.
'It is intended to create fear among people — even people who are not of color. (People in Vilas County) should be mindful and be willing to stand up and say this is not acceptable in our county at all,' he added.
It comes as protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis have reignited concerns about racism and police brutality across the country.
The incident in Wisconsin is not the first time that displays of KKK regalia have shocked the nation in recent weeks.
Last week, two men wearing KKK hoods tried to disrupt a Black Lives Matter protest in Nevada - but were chased off after the BLM demonstrators and pro-police counter-demonstrators joined forces to demand that they leave.
In May, a man walked into a Vons grocery store near San Diego wearing a KKK hood was the subject of a police inquiry.
The San Diego Sheriff's Department won't charge this man who wore a KKK hood while shopping in a Vons supermarket on May 2, citing his protections under the First Amendment
Police have yet to identify this 'attention seeking' man who wore a Klu Klux Klan hood to a Colorado grocery store last month
According to a statement from the San Diego Sheriff's Department, the man explained to authorities that the 'hood was not intended to be a racial statement' but was intended to show his 'frustration with the coronavirus and having people tell him what he can and can not do'.
Also last month, a man in Dillon, Colorado walked into the City Market grocery store wearing a KKK hood bizarrely emblazoned with a swastika and peace symbol.
'I just couldn't believe what I saw. It just blew me away,' fellow shopper Don Nechkash told KDVR.
'He was walking around and just very obviously looking for attention. It was blatantly obvious because he would pick up a product and walk around and kind of look at different people just waiting for someone to say something'.
Nekash added that a number of patrons inside the store approached the man and called him 'a racist'.
The man was asked to leave the store by management and departed before police arrived. An investigation was launched, but it is unclear if the man was ever identified.
Wisconsin man, 50, wearing KKK robe and hood shocks neighbors as he walks his dog and waves at passing cars while drinking a beer
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June 17, 2020
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