The El Paso National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) held a press conference at the El Paso County Courthouse on Monday to address the social media images and videos showing individuals wearing Ku Klux Klan (KKK) robes and masks at a local Halloween gathering.
The post, which surfaced over the weekend, shows about six individuals dressed in white pointed hoods and KKK-style regalia in a backyard and along a dark neighborhood street in East El Paso.
The display triggered widespread outrage across both the borderland community and national news.
Standing outside the courthouse, Carl B. Dwyer Jr., president of the NAACP El Paso branch, strongly condemned the display and rejected any attempt to downplay the incident.
“The silence in the face of hate is complicity. We refuse to remain silent while symbols of terror and white supremacy are normalized or minimized as harmless pranks,” Dwyer said, calling on local civic officials and community members to denounce the behavior immediately.
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, also publicly condemned the incident, emphasizing that racial intimidation has no place in the community.
“No one should fear being targeted or harassed for who they are or what they look like,” Escobar said, adding that El Paso is built on diversity, resilience, and respect for neighbors.
In response to public concern, the El Paso Police Department acknowledged awareness of the social media posts and video footage circulating online. The department released a statement confirming that officials were reviewing the reports surrounding the gathering.
Civil rights advocates at the news conference urged residents to report acts of intimidation or harassment to law enforcement and reaffirmed that symbolic hate displays will not be tolerated in El Paso.
Adrian Gonzalez Jr. is a staff reporter for The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected]