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

NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. — A volunteer fire department in Cape Breton is apologizing after a group attended a Halloween party at the local firefighters club over the weekend dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan.
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A volunteer fire department in Cape Breton is apologizing after a group attended a Halloween party at the local firefighters club over the weekend dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan. In this Nov. 24, 2019 photo, visitors at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, England, examine a display of a 1920s-era Ku Klux Klan outfit from Port Jervis, N.Y. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Russell Contreras

NORTH SYDNEY, N.S. — A volunteer fire department in Cape Breton is apologizing after a group attended a Halloween party at the local firefighters club over the weekend dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Deputy fire Chief Wade Gouthro said in a Facebook post today 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.

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

The club's executive apologized in a social media post on Sunday night, saying the people attended a Halloween costume party Saturday night, and they are not associated with the organization.

Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh says the people were admitted by volunteers working the door, and they were asked to remove their hoods.

He acknowledged that ultimately it was a mistake to let them in at all.

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

The Canadian Press