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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The post,\u202fwhich surfaced over the weekend,\u202fshows 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.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
The display triggered widespread outrage across both the borderland community and national news. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing outside the courthouse,\u202fCarl B.\u202fDwyer Jr.,\u202fpresident of the NAACP El Paso branch,\u202fstrongly condemned the display and rejected any attempt to downplay the incident.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe silence in the face of hate is complicity.\u202fWe refuse to remain silent while symbols of terror and white supremacy are normalized or minimized as harmless pranks,\u201d Dwyer said,\u202fcalling on local civic officials and community members to denounce the behavior immediately.\u00a0<\/p>\n
U.S.\u202fRep.\u202fVeronica Escobar,\u202fD-El Paso,\u202falso publicly condemned the incident,\u202femphasizing that racial intimidation has no place in the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo one should fear being targeted or harassed for who they are or what they look like,\u201d Escobar said,\u202fadding that El Paso is built on diversity,\u202fresilience,\u202fand respect for neighbors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In response to public concern,\u202fthe El Paso Police Department acknowledged awareness of the social media posts and video footage circulating online.\u202fThe department released a statement confirming that officials were reviewing the reports surrounding the gathering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0<\/p>\n