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Police in Redmond, Wash. are looking for a man who brought fear and panic to the owner of a Black thrift store last week after he dropped off a bag of clothes containing a Ku Klux Klan robe.

Leona Coakley-Spring, owner of Rags to Riches Consignment, told Q13 Fox the incident happened last Wednesday, when a White man who appeared to be in his late 20s came in with a bag of dresses to sell to the store. Coakley-Spring said she believed the offending garment was a priest’s robe at first glance.

KING 5 News reports:

Coakley-Spring told police the man sold clothes to her in what she called a “nice and normal interaction,” but then started acting suspicious before leaving a bag behind.

Police say the bag that contained the robe, a loose rope and other items inside.

[…]

Police say the garment also has two patches that resemble symbols associated with the KKK.

The family believes the act is a hate crime, and Coakley-Spring’s son Shane said he thinks the suspect was threatening his mother, according to the report:

“My mother didn’t know what it was right away,” said Shane Coakley, who was with his mom, Leona, when they both opened the bag. “I was angry. I’ve never seen my mom cry so much.”

“I didn’t know what to do or what to say,” Coakley-Spring said Thursday night.  “It was just so horrifying. I can’t change the way I look, but it makes me feel like I’m not good enough. And that’s a bad feeling to have, that you’re not good enough.”

The Redmond Police Department has a few leads, but hasn’t specified whether the act is indeed a hate crime. Coakley-Spring’s son tells reporters his mother is scared to stay in the store by herself. The mother and son, however, refuse to close the business.

SOURCE: Q13 Fox, King 5 | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform

SEE ALSO: Arizona Teens Suspended For Spelling Out Racial Slur In Viral Photo

POLICE: Man Dropped Off KKK Robe At Black-Owned Consignment Store  was originally published on newsone.com