A San Diego-area community is in an uproar after multiple photos posted to social media over the weekend showed a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood while shopping in an effort to test the county's requirement to wear facial coverings while out in public.
The unidentified man was spotted wearing the hood inside a Vons on Saturday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Multiple grocery store clerks reportedly approached the man, and asked him to remove the hood, or leave the store located on Mission Gorge Road in Santee. When the man got in a checkout line, a supervisor at the store told him he he had to either take off the hood, or leave the store.
The unidentified man removed his hood, purchased his items, and left the store, the newspaper reported on Sunday.
According to multiple photos posted to social media Sunday, the man man could be seen pushing a cart through the store's produce section, while wearing the hood. At least one photo shows the white, middle-aged man without the hood on.
The photos ignited outrage from city leaders and other residents in the area, who
Santee Mayor John Minto and other leaders on the City Council condemned the incident in a statement posted online.
"There was an incident in Santee on Saturday where citizens photographed a male wearing attire that depicted a symbol of hatred. The citizens and Vons employees took steps to address the situation. Many thanks to all who stepped forward to curtail this sad reminder of intolerance," the statement read. "Santee, its leaders, and I will not tolerate such behavior. Santee and its citizens are great, and this particular individual's actions are not representative of us as a people and a wonderful city."
In a statement provided to the Times of San Diego on Sunday, a Vons spokeswoman called the incident, "disturbing" for the store's associates and customers.
"At Vons, fostering an environment of courtesy, dignity and respect is one of our highest priorities, and we work hard to hold everyone in our stores to these standards, including customers.
"Unfortunately, an alarming and isolated incident occurred at our Vons store in Santee, where a customer chose an inflammatory method of wearing a face covering. Needless to say, it was shocking.
"Several members of our team asked the customer to remove it, and all requests were ignored until the customer was in the checkout area. 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," the statement from the grocery chain read."
A protest at the Mission Gorge Road store is being organized according to the Times of San Diego.