Ohio cops are accused of dressing up patrol horses as KKK – but the sheriff argues they were intended as “ghosts” covered in sheets with holes cut out for their eyes
- An Ohio sheriff has defended his officers after local residents accused them of accidentally dressing their horses like the KKK
- The horses were draped in sheets with eye, ear and mouth holes for Halloween
- One resident said: “You go back and look at pictures of the Ku Klux Klan, it’s like the exact replica of what the horses looked like.”
- But Sheriff Frank Leonbruno insists local families enjoyed the ghost horses and that they had achieved their goal of bringing Halloween cheer
- The sheriff said his officers didn’t want to offend anyone and thought the pumpkin lights draped around the horses were a clear message
In Lake County, Ohio, a sheriff Frank Leonbruno is defending his employees, who he says didn’t mean to offend when they dressed up their police horses as ghosts for Halloween.
The mounted unit’s horses were covered in large white sheets Monday night, with cutouts for nose, eyes and food. They were also draped in bright orange pumpkin lights.
But contextual clues and neighborhood children’s apparent delight in the horses’ costumes didn’t stop some local residents from complaining that the horses, with their infamous white hoods, resembled horse-like members of the Ku Klux Klan.
“That was a bad execution for a ghost,” a Lake County resident told local broadcaster Fox 8.
Mounted police officers in Lake County, Ohio, wrapped their horses in sheets and decorated them with glowing pumpkin lights for the delight of neighborhood children on Halloween
The department then posted images of the Halloween effort on its social media page, where some residents saw the images and complained that the horses could be mistaken for KKK horses
Sheriff Frank Leonbruno said his employees didn’t mean to offend anyone, and actual residents and children of the neighborhood enjoyed the portrayal of local officials
Images of Ku Klux Klan members on horseback with their distinctive pointy hats
The horses of the group also wore white hooded costumes to match their riders. Some Lake County residents felt that the officers’ horses looked too similar to the hate group’s animals
Another resident, Katelynn Gurbach, asked, “Isn’t there anyone on the staff saying, ‘That’s not a good idea?'”
“A sheriff’s office should be out there protecting people and if I saw that on my street I would be scared.”
“I was shocked and embarrassed,” said another resident.
However, the sheriff told local cops, “What a great idea to have great spirits walking down the street.”
“As the horses walked down the street, they were lit up for Halloween.
“To be honest the community loved it, kids said they were great ghost horses,” he said, confirming that the Mounted Police’s goal of bringing joy to children on Halloween had been achieved.
It was only after the department posted pictures of the horses on its social media page that some commenters became angry.
Although most of the comments were positive, according to the sheriff, he chose to remove the images from the internet because “I didn’t want it to go the wrong way,” he said.
“I’m sorry that perception was there. That was never our intention,” said Leonbruno.
He stated that he was surprised the police horses would have been mistaken for KKK horses because of the Halloween lights that adorned their costumes.
“I certainly haven’t seen any Klan members decorated for Halloween,” he said.