Gov. Jerry Brown denies making racially charged remark in speech

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Gov. Jerry Brown appeared to make a racially charged reference to the Ku Klux Klan during a speech to the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People on Friday, comparing the secretive Arizona nonprofit trying to defeat his tax-hike measure to people “who liked to run around in hoods.”

According to the Sacramento Bee, Brown used part of his speech to criticize the Arizona group, which has pumped $11 million into California campaigns while refusing to disclose its donors.

“I don’t know where these people are from, because they’re hiding, they’re wearing masks,’ Brown said. ‘Remember the people who liked to run around in hoods because they didn’t want people to see who the hell they are?’

After the speech, which he delivered to the NAACP’s California state conference in San Mateo, Brown denied he was referring to the infamous hate group that terrorized black Americans.

‘What it is, is that when people do things, sometimes they don’t want to be exposed for what they’re doing,’ he told the Bee.

So who was Brown referring too? Some people made their suggestions on Twitter.

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-- Chris Megerian in Sacramento
twitter.com/chrismegerian