Photos show people wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods in the mini-mart owned by someone involved in the Montgomery riverfront brawl.
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Photos of hooded shoppers taken in California and Colorado, not Vasser’s Mini-Mart in Selma, Alabama
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- These photos were taken in 2020 at grocery stores in California and Colorado, not at the store of a man allegedly involved in a recent riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama.
Some protesters have called on people to boycott Vasser’s Mini-Mart in Selma, Alabama, after its owner, Zachery Chase Shipman, was allegedly involved in a recent brawl on the riverfront in Montgomery, Alabama, the Selma Times-Journal reported. Shipman later turned himself in and was charged with misdemeanor assault.
But social media claims that photos show people at Shipman’s store wearing what look like Ku Klux Klan hoods aren’t accurate.
"That is an authentic Klans mask," one man said in a TikTok video posted Aug. 9 on Facebook as a photo shows someone standing in front of a produce stand wearing a white hood. "They own this mini-mart, and they’re doing this. Which means they’re active Klan members."
Another photo shows someone in a white hood standing in front of a refrigerated section.
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Featured Fact-check
On Aug. 5, several white boaters were captured on video assaulting a Black riverboat co-captain, prompting national conversations about the role race played in the melee.
But the photos in the social media post aren’t connected to one of the white brawl suspects.
The first photo was taken in California in 2020, when a man went grocery shopping in a KKK hood to protest pandemic mask mandates.
The second photo was also taken in 2020 in Dillon, Colorado, about 70 miles west of Denver.
We rate claims the photo was taken at Vasser’s Mini-Mart False.
Our Sources
Facebook post, Aug. 9, 2023
Selma Sun, A dozen protestors gather at Vasser's Mini Mart on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023
Selma Times-Journal, Protest calls for Vasser’s boycott, Aug. 11, 2023
The Associated Press, Police seek KKK-hooded patron who refused to leave Colorado grocery store, May 15, 2020
Fox 32 Chicago, California man who wore KKK hood at grocery store won't face charges, May 12, 2020
The Associated Press, Alabama riverfront brawl videos spark a cultural moment about race, solidarity and justice, Aug. 12, 2023
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Photos of hooded shoppers taken in California and Colorado, not Vasser’s Mini-Mart in Selma, Alabama
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