Does a video capture a real Ku Klux Klan member joining Trump supporters at a rally? No, that's not true: The man wearing the white hood associated with the hate group is a self-described internet troll, according to his own words on social media posts and in a newspaper interview. In a video featuring the man's previous attempt to sneak into a pro-Trump event in a KKK robe, he said that his account "disavows white supremacy in all forms" and that the content he posts "is satire." Contrary to claims on social media, the footage was filmed in Connecticut, not Pennsylvania.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted on TikTok on September 8, 2024, under the caption:
#trump #MAGA supporters feeling emboldened to bring out hoods #republican #kamalaharris
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Sep 9 13:57:21 2024 UTC)
The post implied that the footage captured a real KKK member at a Trump event.
Other accounts (archived here) on social media claimed that the video portrayed a recent rally in support of the 2024 Republican presidential nominee in Pennsylvania.
Where was the video filmed?
Lead Stories geolocated the video. It was shot near Olde Mistick Village in Mystic, Connecticut, from this spot (archived here) seen on Google Maps.
The composite image below highlights some of the matching features (click to view larger):
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Sep 9 14:01:15 2024; Google Maps screenshot taken on Sep 9 17:23:59 2024 UTC; composite image by Lead Stories)
In both images, we see the same cross formed by a streetlight and a traffic light (1) with a large tree located right behind it (2). Two one-way traffic signs and a DO NOT ENTER sign are in the same places (3, 4). What looks like another road appears on the hill seen in the background (10). The appearance of the poles on both sides of the road (5, 6) in the video matches what is seen on Google Maps. Closer to the bottom of the pictures is the same tiny pedestrian path on the top of a small hill covered with grass (7). Finally, close to the camera, we see a hole in a similar-looking fence (8) and the same unpaved road (9).
What event does the video show?
Police from Stonington, Connecticut, reported that they "responded" (archived here) on September 8, 2024, to the site of a pro-Trump event in Mystic, Connecticut, after receiving calls that the gathering included "a man wearing a KKK robe." The officers said they "monitored the situation." According to local residents interviewed by the Connecticut newspaper The Day (archived here), the total number of participants did not exceed two dozen people.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is one of the oldest hate groups with a long history of violence in the United States, as described by the Southern Poverty Law Center (archived here).
Former President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, was nowhere to be seen in the video. His campaign website made no mention of him speaking at the Mystic rally on September 8, 2024 (archived here).
Lead Stories contacted the Stonington, Connecticut, police for additional comments but did not receive an immediate response.
Who is the person in the KKK robe?
On September 8, 2024, The Day (archived here) reported that the person in the KKK robe was 35-year-old Michael Picard, who confirmed that in an interview with the newspaper.
Picard is an internet personality who describes himself on social media (archived here) as:
the Professional Douche, your friendly neighborhood troll.
On the day of the interview, Picard linked (archived here) to The Day's coverage from his Facebook account and touted his remark that he had wanted "to remind everybody that Trump was endorsed by the KKK."
(In 2016, former KKK leader David Duke (archived here) and one of the group's newspapers (archived here) expressed vocal support for Donald Trump. His campaign distanced itself from Duke's (archived here) and the newspaper's (archived here) endorsements.)
Picard's post featured two additional photos. One (archived here) showed a road sign pointing in the direction of the local aquarium. The sign looked identical to the one found by Lead Stories within a short walkable distance from the event's site (archived here).
It was not the first time Picard pretended to be a KKK member while attending Trump events.
On July 30, 2024, for example, he posted a video (archived here) on his account on X, formerly known as Twitter, under a caption saying that he was "infiltrating the Republican National Convention." In that clip, he introduced himself as a "KKK member," among other things.
Earlier, in February 2024, Picard posted on X (archived here) about going to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C. A more detailed video (archived here) featuring the self-proclaimed troll was later posted on his account on YouTube. It opened with an admission that it was "the most controversial thing" he had "ever done." Picard continued:
This channel disavows white supremacy in all forms. This is satire.
Lead Stories contacted Picard for additional comments. If we get a response, this fact check will be updated as appropriate.
Other Lead Stories fact checks about claims related to Trump can be found here. Fact checks of claims about the 2024 U.S. presidential election are here.
