Students at Indiana University in Bloomington started freaking out on Monday night after a rumor circulated of someone walking around in Ku Klux Klan attire.
The man allegedly had a whip.
As the rumors began to spread, one residence hall assistant fired off an email to his residents.
iu students be careful, there’s someone walking around in kkk gear with a whip.
— nafanuaaa (@babyynini_) April 5, 2016
“There has been a person reported walking around campus in a KKK outfit holding a whip. Because the person is protected under the First Amendment rights, IUPD cannot remove the person from campus unless an act of violence is committed,” said Ethan Gill.
“Please PLEASE PLEASE be very careful out there tonight, always be with someone and if you have no dire reason to be out of the building, I would recommend staying indoors if you’re alone.”
“If you feel unsafe, please contact me,” he added.
But the so-called “klansman” turned out to be a priest.
[morearticles]1998051[/morearticles]
The man in a white robe was actually Friar Jude McPeak, who wears the traditional dress of the Dominican order of friars, reported the Daily Caller.
The “whip” spotted by some was actually McPeak’s rosary, or his brown belt.
He just came out to have some froyo and he’s feeling very attacked right nowhttps://t.co/2PibPQO858 pic.twitter.com/AuwKXO5ap7
— Griffin Leeds (@GriffinLeeds) April 5, 2016
McPeak works as an associate pastor at the St. Paul Catholic Center, which serves IU students.
Gill sent a follow-up email after McPeak was spotted at Red Mango and the truth was revealed, admitting his mistake:
“Behold, your ‘klansmember….’ “This is what happens when there is miscommunication. So what happened tonight goes like this: a person saw white robes and what looked to them like a weapon, got scared (rightfully so), warned people, warned staff, which in turn caused me to warn my residents because I need to look out for my residents, which in turn made it spread. “Then my residents, terrified, come running to me, saying yeah the report must be true, they saw him and couldn’t believe there was a klansmember with a whip. And I see this picture. It’s a priest. With a rosary,” he wrote.
“Now, I get it why a person would be scared. There in fact HAVE been klansmembers on the campus spurting hate speech, but never have they been reported with a weapon. So yeah, if it was in fact a weapon and a threat, it’s a good thing to warn a friend. So when someone warns other people, we need to be cautious. However, what I’ve learned from this is to take anything with a grain of salt. In the future, I’m still sending my residents warnings of threats, crime, hate gatherings, and all that but I will wait for a confirmation. But now that there is no danger I can say: this is a hilarious miscommunication.”
To avoid confusion in the future @TheTab @HoosierCatholic when following @TheWhiteHabit pic.twitter.com/27xJsdDa7u
— Dominican Friars (@OPDomCentral) April 6, 2016
McPeak later told The Tab that “this isn’t the first time” he was mistaken for a member of the KKK.
“I thought it was kind of funny,” McPeak said. “A lot of my friends have been teasing me. It’s been humbling.”
The official Dominican friars account even got involved, poking fun at the incident on Twitter.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
