Chinese restaurant forced to close after owner's donation to KKK leader David Duke exposed

O'mei Szechuan in Santa Cruz, California, out of business after four decades following revelation Roger Grisby gave $500 to white supremacist's failed Louisiana senate campaign in 2016

David Duke at Charlottesville (AP)

A Chinese restaurant open in Santa Cruz, California, for almost four decades has closed its doors after a boycott and online backlash against the owner's 2016 campaign donation to former Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader David Duke.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel reports that O'mei Szechuan Chinese Restaurant closed, perhaps permanently, after a news site revealed that owner Roger Grigsby donated $500 to Duke's unsuccessful 2016 US Senate campaign in Louisiana.

Grigsby told the newspaper he's been dealing with “political terror” and an “attack” on his business as word of his donation has spread online.

He defended his support of Duke's campaign, saying Duke is unfairly characterised by the news media as a “hate caricature.”

Duke was leader of the KKK from 1974 to 1978.

AP