No charges filed over Klan mask in California

SANTEE, Calif. — An investigation into the actions of a man who wore a Ku Klux Klan hood to a grocery store outside San Diego did not turn up enough evidence to pursue charges against him, the San Diego County Sheriff ’s Department announced Monday.

The incident at the Vons on Mission Gorge Road in Santee on May 2 was documented by other shoppers who took photos that went viral and put a national spotlight on Santee. Local elected leaders, the head of the Anti-Defamation League in San Diego and others condemned the man’s actions.

The man, who in photos appeared to be white and middle-aged, told investigators the hood was not intended to be a racial statement.

“It was a mask and it was stupid,” he told investigators, according to the department’s statement.