A Republican candidate for the Arkansas Senate, Charles Edward Beckham III, was reportedly dismissed from his Mississippi high school for wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit on Halloween of 2000, according to the Arkansas Times.
Five former classmates of Beckham’s while he attended the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science spoke out with the Arkansas Times stating that they were terrorized by Beckham.
Charles Edward Beckham III, a Republican who is running for Arkansas Senate, was dismissed from high school 20 years ago for dressing up in Ku Klux Klan regalia during a Halloween event, according to court records: https://t.co/ekJqRY57Sl
— AR Democrat-Gazette (@ArkansasOnline) October 22, 2020
At first, Beckham denied the allegations about him dressing up in a Ku Klux Klan costume, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Even after the Hinds County Circuit Court in Jackson, Mississippi provided legal documents from a lawsuit Beckham’s family was involved in after his dismissal, he still denied allegations.
According to the lawsuit records, the incident occurred over Beckham’s senior year at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science during a costume contest. Beckham and two other students at the school ended up changing into KKK costumes, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.
Beckham repeated that the allegations were “baseless and false”, according to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. However, he did end up admitting that he did dress up in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, chalking it up to a mistake. (RELATED: New York Teacher’s Assignment Compares Police To KKK Members, Slave Owners)
“I do sincerely apologize for any angst or grievances that I have caused anyone as a minor, as that is not the man that I am today,” Beckham explained.
“I continue to unequivocally denounce the KKK and any like minded hate groups and the rumors that I am or have ever been part of the KKK are absolutely ridiculous. I am a Christian, a husband to my loving wife of 8 years as well as a father of two and am proud of the life that we have built in McNeil, Arkansas.”