Man wore apparent KKK hood while shopping at California grocery store. ‘Blatant racism’

A man who wore an apparent Ku Klux Klan hood inside a California grocery store a day after a local order went in effect requiring people to wear face coverings in public has been condemned by local leaders.

The incident occurred Saturday at a Vons in Santee, according to Mayor John Minto. Vons is part of the Albertsons grocery store chain.

A Vons spokesperson said it was “an alarming and isolated incident,” KNSD reported.

“This was a disturbing incident for our associates and customers, and we are reviewing with our team how to best handle such inappropriate situations in the future,” spokesperson Melissa Hill said.

Vons employees asked the man to remove his hood, Hill said, according to KFMB. But he didn’t remove it until he was in the checkout area.

Sinto thanked the people who came forward about “this sad reminder of intolerance.”

“Santee, its leaders and I will not tolerate such behavior,” Sinto said in a statement Sunday. “Santee and its citizens are great, and this particular individual’s actions are not representative of us as a people and a wonderful city.”

The images of the man in the hood were “abhorrent,” San Diego County Supervisor Dianne Jacob wrote on Twitter.

“This blatant racism has no place in Santee or any part of San Diego County,” she said. “It is not who we are. It is not what we stand for and can’t be tolerated.”

On Friday, San Diego County imposed a new order that “everyone must wear face coverings anywhere in public they come within 6 feet of another person” to stop the spread of coronavirus, according to KGTV.

“It’s shocking yet not surprising that even during these challenging times, we see people emboldened to express hate,” the regional director of of the Anti-Defamation League of San Diego told NBC 7.

This story was originally published May 4, 2020 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Man wore apparent KKK hood while shopping at California grocery store. ‘Blatant racism’."