Swiss authorities have launched an investigation into the actions of a group of people who were spotted marching around the town of Brunnen while dressed as members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) during this week’s carnival, the local 20 Minuten newspaper reports.
A video recorded by a bystander shows about a dozen figures clad in white robes with pointy hoods, emblazoned with letters “KKK” and what looks like the Klan insignia, marching along the street carrying burning torches.
"That's definitely going too far," the man who recorded the video said.
Daniel Kettiger, a lawyer and expert on racism who was interviewed by the newspaper, noted that while the group was dressed in a “fairly faithful imitation clothing or costume of the American Ku Klux Klan", it might be difficult to charge them with racial discrimination under existing Swiss legislation as they apparently didn’t target any specific race or ethnicity and only donned their attire during the carnival.
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He pointed out, however, that if the group marched in front of an asylum shelter occupied mostly by black refugees, that would be regarded as a "violation of anti-racism laws".
