Deputy fire chief apologizes after group attends N.S. Halloween party in KKK costumes

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This article was published 28/10/2024 (410 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SYDNEY, N.S. – A volunteer fire department in Cape Breton apologized Monday after a group said to be unaffiliated attended a Halloween party at the local firefighters club dressed as Ku Klux Klan members.

Deputy fire Chief Wade Gouthro said in a Facebook post that the fire department members in North Sydney, N.S., are “very sorry from the bottom of our hearts,” and he asked for the community’s forgiveness.

“When you folks comment that they shouldn’t have got in and that we need to do better, you are right, and we will,” Gouthro wrote. “Our volunteers are some of the most caring and helpful individuals you will ever meet. I will assure you that we are all hurting in our hearts today that we have disappointed a community that we work so hard to make better and protect.”

Pictures and videos shared on social media show four people wearing long white robes and pointed white hoods inside what appears to be the North Sydney Firefighters Club. One person is carrying a large cross.

The robes and hoods have long been worn by the Ku Klux Klan, which the Southern Poverty Law Centre in the United States describes as “the oldest and most infamous of American hate groups.” Formed in 1865, the Klan is known for lynchings, rapes and “other violent attacks on those challenging white supremacy,” the legal advocacy group says.

The North Sydney Firefighters Club executive apologized in a Facebook post on Sunday night, saying the people dressed as Klan members attended a Halloween costume party at the building on Saturday.

“These four individuals are in no way, shape or form associated with our organization,” the post said.

Both the pictures of the group and the firefighters club’s apology have met with widespread fury online. “This is not a mistake, this is blatant racism,” said one comment in response to the club. “They should have never been let in.”

Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh said the people in Klan costumes were admitted by volunteers working the door. When it became clear what was happening, volunteers at the event asked them to remove their hoods, though some refused. Volunteers also took away the cross, he said in an interview Monday.

“A mistake was made,” he said. “They were allowed in, they shouldn’t have been.”

None were firefighters, he said, adding that it wasn’t yet clear who they were. However, firefighters have since been “threatened with harm,” he added.

In an emailed statement, the province’s Office of Equity and Anti-Racism condemned the costumes and pointed to legislation requiring municipalities and villages to adopt anti-hate plans by April 1, 2025.

“There is no space for hate or hate groups in Nova Scotia,” spokesperson Lynette MacLeod said. “We do not condone engaging with hate groups or dressing up as hate groups, and people should recognize these symbols of hate in our communities cause great harm.”

A spokesperson for the Cape Breton Regional Police said the force is aware of what happened and is investigating to determine if anything criminal took place.

Jonathan Shapiro, a law professor at Dalhousie University, said merely wearing a “horrifically offensive” costume such as a Klan uniform would likely not be enough to constitute a hate crime, though it is “detestable behaviour.”

“However, it can certainly form the basis of a hate crime if either words, gestures, or even the context of the costumes can reasonably infer the wearers were inciting someone to hateful action,” Shapiro wrote in an email.

As an example, he said if the people in the costumes “implied or directly suggested” that people of colour in the community should be harassed, harmed or ill-treated, that — combined with the historical association of their outfits and the Ku Klux Klan — could be a hate crime.

A spokesperson for Service Nova Scotia said its alcohol, gaming, fuel and tobacco enforcement staff can only police behaviour specific to liquor licensing, such as underage drinking. “Clearly this is racist, inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour,” Rachel Boomer said in an email.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 28, 2024.

— By Sarah Smellie in St. John’s, N.L.