The Pittsburgh branch of the N.A.A.C.P. and the speaker of the Pennsylvania House have denounced a local Halloween parade float that featured a woman apparently dressed as Vice President Kamala Harris who was tethered to a small vehicle that was ferrying a person dressed as former President Donald J. Trump.
The display was part of the annual Halloween parade in Mount Pleasant, Pa., a small town about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. It featured a vehicle festooned with a Trump sign that had what looked like a large rifle mounted on the roof, video on TribLive.com showed.
The woman dressed as Ms. Harris wore a suit and was walking behind the vehicle, tied to it by what looked like a leash connected to her wrists. A woman with a child in her lap was driving the vehicle, past families who were watching from the sidewalk. Men in sunglasses, resembling Secret Service agents, walked alongside the vehicle.
Diane Bailey, the mayor of Mount Pleasant, said she was shocked and then angry when she saw the display in the parade on Wednesday.
“It was a hateful and racist thing, and I just can’t tell you how worked up I get when I talk about it,” she said in an interview. She said it was not clear who put the float together. Participants were not registered or vetted beforehand, she said.
“It shouldn’t be any place in this country, and I shouldn’t have to see it in my little town,” said Ms. Bailey, a Democrat.
Daylon A. Davis, the president of the Pittsburgh branch of the N.A.A.C.P., said he was deeply disturbed by the way Ms. Harris was depicted.
“This appalling portrayal goes beyond the realm of Halloween satire or free expression,” he said in a statement. “It is a harmful symbol that evokes a painful history of violence, oppression, and racism that Black and Brown communities have long endured here in America.”
Joanna E. McClinton, the Democratic speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, said she was horrified by what she called “a disgusting display of hate.”
“Depicting Vice President Harris in chains at the hands of her opponent is grounded symbolism from our country’s painful past,” she wrote on X. “Exhibitions like these are never appropriate in a civil discourse and are inconsistent with our values as Pennsylvanians.”
The Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department, which has sponsored the parade for more than 70 years, said it was sorry for “allowing the offensive participants” — whom it did not identify — to take part in the event. It said the goal of the parade “has always been to support our community’s children.”
“We do not share in the values represented by those participants, and we understand how it may have hurt or offended members of our community,” the department said in a statement on Facebook. The department added that it was committed to “ensuring that our future events celebrate the diversity and spirit of our community in a positive way.”
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