A Pennsylvania volunteer fire department has apologized after a float in the town’s Halloween parade featured people dressed like former President Donald Trump, a sniper, and a handcuffed Vice President Kamala Harris.
Images and videos from the Halloween event in Mount Pleasant have gone viral on social media. The parade display featured a group dressed as Secret Service agents surrounding a golf cart carrying a person in a Trump mask and a “sniper.” A person meant to be Harris walked behind the cart attached to a rope with their hands bound.
The Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department ran the October 30 parade. The department released a statement saying it ” sincerely apologizes” for allowing the float.
A parade float in Pennsylvania featured a person dressed as Vice President Harris being dragged by a rope behind a golf cart. Two people dressed as former President Trump and a sniper rode in the cart.
Courtesy of WPXI
“We, the members of the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department, want to take a moment to sincerely apologize for allowing the offensive participants to take part in the Mount Pleasant Annual Halloween Parade last evening,” the statement read. “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 department noted in its statement that the parade, which has gone on for over 70 years, is a “first come, first serve event.” The planning process will be reviewed to “prevent a situation like this from happening again.”
The borough of Mount Pleasant stated in a press release Friday that the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department is “an important asset to the community.” The statement said the parade was not sponsored by the borough and that “the borough has no control of who participates or how they participate.”
The borough’s statement suggested there have “been no prior incidents” with the process of having participants show up, line up on the street, and move down the parade route.
Absolutely disgusting. MAGA parade in Mount Pleasant, PA depicted Vice President Harris in chains behind a golf cart bearing American flags and Donald Trump campaign signs
This should be condemned by all.
pic.twitter.com/PRZ3SUOVlM— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 1, 2024
“It’s important to know that this is a small, tight-knit community and many members have reached out to voice concerns about the inappropriateness of this display,” the statement read.
The borough also condemned the float.
“To say that the display was appalling and caused concern not only to the residents of the borough of Mount Pleasant and the dedicated volunteer members of the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department is an understatement,” the borough’s statement read.
“Please know that this type of display is not condoned or acceptable by the borough of Mount Pleasant and the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department now or ever.”
Michelle Milan McFall, the chair of the Westmoreland County Democratic Party, told Pittsburgh news station WTAE that people “are upset about this.”
Daylon Davis, the president of the NAACP’s Pittsburgh branch, wrote that the group is “deeply disturbed by the inclusion of an offensive display in this year’s Mount Pleasant Halloween Parade.”
“This appalling portrayal goes beyond the realm of Halloween satire or free expression,” Davis wrote. “It is a harmful symbol that evokes a painful history of violence, oppression and racism that Black and Brown communities have long endured here in America.”
Davis called for a time to demonstrate that love and justice will prevail, noting that the ballot box on November 5 is “our pulpit, our march, our message.”
