Shocking moment Texas teens dressed in Ku Klux Klan robes for Halloween walk through neighborhood shouting the N-word

Video captured the vile moment a group of ‘young people’ in Texas walked through a neighborhood and repeatedly yelled the N-word while wearing Ku Klux Klan-style robes ahead of Halloween.

The appalling footage posted across social media showed the group, many of whom are believed to be teenagers, strolling down a street in El Paso while wearing the white robes and hoods.

At least eight individuals could be seen in the costumes as the person recording the clip laughed loudly. It was not clear when the incident happened, though video began circulating on Sunday.

‘Y’all gotta yell something, güey,’ the person filming told the group, using a word in Spanish that means something like ‘dude.’

The group then counted down and screamed the N-word before cracking up with laughter.

Once the person recording told them to ‘keep yelling it,’ the group proceeded to chant the word.

The El Paso Police Department said Monday afternoon that the group, which they noted ‘reportedly [included] young people,’ may have broken several laws, including disorderly conduct and ‘other applicable offenses.’

‘Free expression has limits when it crosses into conduct that threatens public order or the safety of others,’ Peter Pacillas, the El Paso chief of police, said.

Pacillas said symbols and language associated with the KKK represented a ‘history of terror, violence and racial hatred,’ and had ‘no place’ in El Paso.

‘Treating that history as a costume or a joke is unacceptable and contrary to the values of respect and safety that define El Paso,’ Pacillas said.

He added that police remained committed ‘to protecting every resident, regardless of background, and to maintaining the safety and dignity of our neighborhoods.’

Police said they were reviewing the available information. No other statements have been made since and no identities have been publicly released.

El Paso police told the Daily Mail on Wednesday that there were no updates to provide.

The teenagers were going to a Halloween party on the Eastside of El Paso, according to El Paso Matters. 

El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson, who is the city’s first ever black mayor, said Tuesday that he was ‘deeply disappointed and disturbed by the actions of these individuals.’

‘Hate is not a costume, racism is not a joke, and our community deserves better,’ Johnson said, according to Chron. ‘We are better than this, El Paso.’

The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)’s El Paso branch, Carl B Dwyer Jr, said Monday morning during a press conference that the incident hurt.

‘We’re calling on all of the superintendents, all of the school districts, please, speak up,’ Dwyer said, according to NBC News. ‘Please, do something about this.’

Artie C Maxwell Jr, the pastor of El Paso’s Mount Zion Baptist Church, also condemned the costumed group’s actions.

‘We may think that it is a joke, but it’s not a joke when it comes to the lives that have come before us,’ Maxwell said at the press conference.

He added that ‘many have died at the hands of those who have worn those costumes.’

Jackie Butler, the El Paso County Commissioner for Precinct 1, said it was important to ‘recognize that actions have consequences, and accountability matters.’

‘We cannot dismiss or minimize actions that evoke this history, particularly when they threaten the sense of safety, dignity, and belonging that every resident deserves,’ she said Monday on Instagram.

Democratic Texas Congresswoman Veronica Escobar said the reports of ‘teenagers wearing Ku Klux Klan regalia and allegedly shouting racial slurs in our community are deeply disturbing and unacceptable.’

‘No one should have to fear being targeted or harassed because of who they are or what they look like and no El Pasoan is too young to understand that racism has no place in our community,’ Escobar wrote Sunday on Facebook.

Texas State Senator Cesar Blanco, a Democrat, said he was ‘extremely disappointed and disturbed’ by what happened.

‘We must never turn a blind eye to racism or allow hate and intimidation to become normalized in our communities or anywhere in our country,’ Blanco said.

Michael Grady, a local pastor, said he believed the costumes were an example of ‘learned behavior.’

‘We’re not born with hatred,’ Grady told KTSM. ‘We’re not born with divisiveness. And so this learned behavior is because of what I believe the climate is in the nation.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to the NAACP in El Paso for further comment.