Fire department vows to make changes after ‘hateful’ political float appeared in Halloween parade

MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. — One of the big questions many people in Mount Pleasant are asking is how the borough allowed a political float which many called hateful to be a part of its Halloween parade on Wednesday. The fire department that sponsors the parade says there was no process for approval for those floats that participated, but that is something they say will be changing.

>> Local Halloween parade receives backlash over float depicting Trump leading Harris in chains

Richard Pologruto, the president of the Mount Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department was disgusted when he saw the pictures and videos coming from Wednesday’s Halloween parade.

“I just can’t imagine somebody would even go to that extreme,” Pologruto told Channel 11′s Andrew Havranek.

The small borough has been thrust into the national spotlight after videos and pictures showing someone dressed as former President Donald Trump riding in a golf cart-style vehicle, surrounded by people dressed up like Secret Service, leading a woman dressed as Vice President Kamala Harris down Main Street.

That woman had her hands tied and was strapped to the vehicle.

Elected leaders and county party leaders on both sides of the aisle have spoken out against the display.

“It’s shocking, it’s shameful, it evokes images of the worst part of America’s past,” said Commissioner Ted Kopas, a Democrat.

But — one of the biggest questions people have is how did this float get approved?

“Somebody had to say yeah, to let them in the parade,” said Josh Huff, who attended the parade Wednesday.

The fire department says that wasn’t the case.

Havranek: “So this wasn’t something where a firefighter said, “You’re good to go” at the beginning of this?”

Pologruto: “No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

The fire department sponsors the parade every year and has for more than 70 years.

Even though other parades in Mount Pleasant have a check in and approval process, the department said there has never been one for the Halloween parade.

That will be changing.

“We do for the fire department, things like their street fair parade, we do, it’s invited by invitations,” Pologruto explained. “We have a line up, we do know who’s coming, we do know who’s there. We’ve never done it for the Halloween parade because it is a disaster to put all these kids through the paperwork, their parents, or whatever. But, we are going to do that.”

The people involved in the float have not been identified, but elected leaders say they would like to see them come forward

“Come on over, identify yourselves, lets talk and decide what prompted this and why in our community,” said Mayor Diane Bailey.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

©2024 Cox Media Group