Video clips circulating on social media over the weekend show roughly six to seven young people wearing white hoods and robes reminiscent of Ku Klux Klan attire at a Halloween gathering on El Paso’s East Side. The footage, captured in a backyard and along a neighborhood street, also includes a voice urging the group to “yell something as a team,” and the participants appear to shout racial slurs, though the language is censored in the shared videos.
According to The Mirror, the individuals are believed to be teenagers, most of whom appear to be Hispanic—a demographic that makes up about 81% of the city’s population per 2025 Census data. AllHipHop reported that the El Paso branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) identified the area as the East Side and described the gathering as a Halloween event.
NAACP President Carl B. Dwyer Jr. issued a statement calling the Klan hood “not a costume” and labeling silence in the face of such symbols as “complicity.” He said, “It hurts, it hurts. Fighting for freedom, still to this day in 2026, we have people who think it’s okay to don white sheets, white robes, and white hats that are emblematic of the most racist time and period of this country. It is not a joke, and it is not funny.” The branch announced a press conference on Monday, October 26, outside the El Paso County Courthouse to address the incident.
U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar also condemned the images in a Facebook post on October 25, describing the act as “deeply disturbing and unacceptable” and emphasizing El Paso’s commitment to diversity, resilience, and respect. Pastor Michael Grady, speaking to KTSM, called the behavior “learned” and expressed a desire to understand the participants’ motives, noting the broader national climate of division.
Local community group FitFam El Paso labeled the participants “uneducated incels” and warned that the display suggests the Klan’s influence remains alive, normalizing hateful behavior. The El Paso NAACP called on elected officials, faith leaders, and civic advocates across the county to speak out against the imagery.
Historical context was provided by AllHipHop, noting that the Ku Klux Klan has a long history of terror in Texas dating back to the 1860s, with a notable resurgence in the early 1920s that even targeted local school boards and Catholic institutions.
What’s next: The NAACP press conference on Monday, October 26, will provide further details and outline steps the community plans to take to address the incident and promote ongoing vigilance against hate symbols in El Paso.
Sources: kvia.com, themirror.com, atlantablackstar.com, allhiphop.com
