Mayor apologizes for husband's KKK Halloween costume

LAHOMA, Okla., Nov. 2 (UPI) -- The mayor of an Oklahoma town apologized Monday for her husband dressing up in a Ku Klux Klan costume for Halloween.

Lahoma Mayor Theresa Sharp, 47, told NBC News she was "devastated" and "embarassed" about her husband's actions. She said he "meant no harm" when he and his friends dressed in KKK garb and held a large cross next to a fire.

A photo of the mayor's husband and his friends was taken by someone who called the police, then posted it online, sparking outrage and accusations of bigotry.

Sharp has been mayor of Lahoma, a town of about 600 people roughly 100 miles from Oklahoma City, for four years. Despite some calls for Sharp's resignation, she said she had no intention of doing so.

She defended her husband, 47-year-old Cary Sharp, and said he simply made "some very bad choices."

"It's four good ol' boys sitting around drinking and things got out of control," she said. "They didn't see the harm in dressing up as the KKK, in comparison to other people dressing up as murderers and bombers."

Neither she nor her husband are affiliated with the Klan, Sharp said. The mayor only learned of the incident when she was out trick-or-treating with one of her children and the police chief told her authorities got a call that people were dressed as KKK members on her street.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's "hate map" shows the closest Klan group to be across state lines in Arkansas and Texas.

The mayor's husband said the outrage was overblown.

"This is ridiculous, really," he said. "It was a Halloween night."

Garfield County Sheriff Jerry Niles said when police asked them to take the costumes off they did so and no charges were filed. Niles said they would not be arrested for "poor decision making."