Overview
- West Warwick police said Thursday they closed the case after determining two brothers staged the late-night display for social media attention.
- The videos, captured around 2 a.m. Monday near the Arctic Gazebo on Main Street, showed a figure in a white robe and pointed hood walking past businesses, including a shop that shared surveillance footage.
- Investigators said both men admitted responsibility, provided evidence they acted alone, and faced no charges.
- One brother later claimed he wore the outfit to launch a white supremacist group, a motive police rejected as unsupported by their interviews and evidence.
- Officers reported no ties to organized hate groups in Rhode Island, consistent with Southern Poverty Law Center data showing no identified Ku Klux Klan chapters in the state in 2024.