Man dons KKK robe and hood to walk dog, waves to neighbors

Last month, a shopper in San Diego sparked outrage when he decided to wear a KKK hood to pick up some groceries.

After city authorities ruled in that case that the unorthodox choice of face covering was “protected free speech” it seems a dog owner in Wisconsin has been emboldened to go one better.

A man wearing a KKK hood and robe was spotted Friday evening serenely exercising his pooch and greeting passing cars in the town of Conover.

The local man, since identified as 50-year-old Charles Michael Booth, was seen “out walking his dog, wearing a Ku Klux Klan shirt, drinking a beer and waving at the traffic” near Monheim Road and the aptly named Highway K, according to the Vilas County Sheriff’s Department. 

Images of the flâneur provocatively attired in a white and green robe and hood while standing on the side of the road with a black dog began circulating on Facebook Saturday.

Deputies made contact with and identified the man as Booth after receiving several calls about him on Friday evening, Vilas County Sheriff Joseph Fath told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Fath appeared satisfied with Booth’s explanation that he was “just taking his dog for a walk.” The Sheriff said there was “no traffic problem” at the time and that Booth was not committing any crimes. 

“I don’t anticipate any follow-up on it,” Fath added.

A woman who sighted Booth in the offensive outfit while out with her husband told the Journal Sentinel that the encounter was “surreal” and that the dog owner just “politely waved.”

The woman, who didn’t wish to be named because she is one of Booth’s neighbors and has what she called a “mixed-race” family, said that she and her partner were flabbergasted.

“We knew what we were looking at, but we didn’t know why. We were so in shock,” she said.

The Vilas County Sheriff’s Department received further calls about the incident on Saturday, according to a call log. An employee at Conover’s Energy Mart gas station also requested an extra patrol in the area “due to people’s concerns about Charles Booth.”

Gregory Jones, president of the Dane County NAACP, denounced the incident as a “terrorist act” and warned local residents to be watchful.

“[Booth] intended to project what I believe to be white supremacist behaviors by wearing this garb,” Jones said. “It is intended to create fear among people — even people who are not of color. [People in Vilas County] should be mindful and be willing to stand up and say this is not acceptable in our county at all.”

Booth has a history of misdemeanor traffic violations and was found guilty of criminal damage to property in 2013, according to court records.