Participants in a Halloween parade in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, received backlash after their float depicted Kamala Harris in chains.
The float, which sent social media into a frenzy, consisted of two men dressed like Secret Service agents, a person dressed as Trump in the center, and a person dressed as Kamala Harris, who was chained up to the back of the float.
The Mount Pleasant Fire Department, which hosted the parade, shared, “We do not share the values represented by those participants, and we understand how it may have hurt or offended members of our community.”
Take a look at the float here:
MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa:
Halloween float depicting Donald Trump leading Kamala Harris in chains. pic.twitter.com/wYqstnuzp1
— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) November 1, 2024
Mt Pleasant Halloween Parade!
“Trump float” with “Kamala Harris in chains”pulled behind!
Shameful! pic.twitter.com/euncen53d1— Marty Griffin (@MartyGriffinKD) October 31, 2024
Per WTAE:
It was a display that shocked and troubled people — the Pittsburgh chapter of the NAACP called it deeply disturbing and offensive.
In the Mount Pleasant Halloween Parade Wednesday night, there was an entry depicting Vice President Kamala Harris being led in chains behind a vehicle marked with former President Donald Trump’s name.
“Two men at the back, dressed like Secret Service and a man in the center, dressed like a sniper with a weapon pointed upward. It gets more disturbing when you see the pictures. Multiple images from multiple points of view of a woman in what looks like a business suit chained to the back of the truck,” said Michelle Milan McFall, chair of the Westmoreland County Democratic Party.
Milan McFall said people have been sharing images with her and voicing their concerns on social media.
“People are upset about this. And I think, too, we’re five days out from what is the most contentious election in a county that is not always at peace with itself. You know, we’ve seen political violence in this county,” Milan McFall said.
Mount Pleasant Mayor Diane Bailey told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 the Halloween parade is not sponsored by the borough. The parade is staged by the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department.
She says it’s been going on for 70 years without incident, and that display, in her words, “has shocked residents more than they can ever say.”
Pa. Halloween parade float portrayed Kamala Harris in chains behind golf cart https://t.co/jfCur2AVWt
— PennLive.com (@PennLive) November 1, 2024
Check out what CBS reported:
Some participants in a Halloween parade outside Pittsburgh are being heavily criticized for their depiction of Vice President Harris in a float.
Photos of the float in Wednesday night’s parade in Mount Pleasant, in Westmoreland County, show a utility vehicle decorated with American flags and campaign signs for former President Donald Trump and people dressed as United States Secret Service agents with what appears to be a rifle mounted on top and with a person dressed as Harris chained up and walking behind the cart. KDKA-TV later learned it was a fake gun.
The photos have gone viral on social media and the response was overwhelmingly negative, with many calling the float racist and offensive.
In a statement on Facebook on Thursday night, the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department apologized “for allowing the offensive participants” to be in the parade.
“We do not share in the values represented by those participants, and we understand how it may have hurt or offended members of our community,” the post said.
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