Cops called over ‘racist’ Halloween display
An Adelaide man is stunned after neighbours called the police about his Halloween display, claiming it was racist.
SA News
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
McLaren Vale man Daniel Abbie insists the eerie figures covered in white sheets on his front lawn are supposed to be ghosts as part of a fun-filled Halloween display, not members of the Ku Klux Klan.
But a neighbour appeared to disagree, complaining to police the display was racist.
Mr Abbie said he decorated his house on Sunday, and had a visit from police the following day.
“I made a joke about it and said ‘We’re probably going to get into trouble,’ and sure enough they (police) pulled up out the front,” Mr Abbie said.
The father of three said police asked him “What’s this all about”, in reference to his decorations.
“I said ‘It’s Halloween, don’t you go to the shops?’”
Mr Abbie’s display shows ghosts around a bonfire, and a body bag hanging on a tree for “shock value”.
Police told him neighbours had complained of the white figures dancing around a dead body, believing they looked like the KKK.
The KKK is a racist hate organisation that employed terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda when they were founded in the US after the Civil War in the 1860s. The organisation still exists today.
“I turned around and said ‘Woah, I can see how people might interpret it that way.’”
Mr Abbie said he meant no harm in the display.
“I had absolutely no intention of that at all … obviously people have taken it the wrong way.
“They’ve (the ghosts have) got round heads, and the KKK wear pointed hats.”
Mr Abbie formerly lived in Sellicks Beach, and said people would travel from all over Adelaide to see his gruesome Halloween displays.
He is undergoing wrist surgery on Monday, but will add to the display in his recovery to “brighten it up”.
“I’m trying to clear my name and let people know I'm going to add to the display.
“Hopefully people will understand it’s in good fun.”
MORE NEWS
Where to get spooked at haunted SA pubs this Halloween
