California Passes Bill Banning Masks For Law Enforcement

California state legislators passed a bill banning law enforcement from wearing face masks while conducting official operations. 

According to AP, California is the first state legislature to pass a bill of this nature, though similar measures have been introduced in Tennessee, Michigan, Illinois, New York, and Congress. Democratic state Sen. Scott Weiner introduced Senate Bill 627, aka the “No Secret Police Act,” in June in response to the frequent immigration raids by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. 

“We are in a truly disaster of a situation where we have secret police, effectively, on our streets. It’s tearing apart the fabric of society,” Weiner told the New York Times. “You have communities in Southern California where people are scared to go out on the street, they’re scared to go to work, they’re scared to bring their kids to school. And now is the time for us to say what the rules are.”

The “No Secret Police Act,” prevents both state and federal officers from wearing ski masks, neck gaiters, and other face coverings while on duty. The bill makes exemptions for N95 masks, gas masks, and other tactical gear. 

It’s unclear whether California Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign the bill into law. While Newsom has criticized the use of face masks by ICE in the past, he’s also questioned the constitutionality of the state’s ability to police federal officers. An opinion by constitutional law expert Erwin Chemerinsky at the University of California, Berkeley, has been cited by the bill’s supporters as to how the law would be enforced. Cherminsky wrote that while a state can’t regulate the federal government, they do have to obey state laws “unless doing so would significantly interfere with the performance of their duties. For example, while on the job, federal employees must stop at red lights.” 

Supporters of the “No Secret Police Act” have said it’s urgently needed, given the recent Supreme Court decision effectively undermining the Fourth Amendment by allowing ICE to use race as a determining factor to stop someone. California Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, vice chair of the Latino caucus, said the decision is “effectively allowing federal agents stop suspects based solely on their race, language, or job.”

“How is anyone supposed to reasonably believe that they are law enforcement officers and not masked individuals trying to kidnap you?” he said ahead of the vote. “Imagine the absolute fear of being pulled over at gunpoint by a group of masked individuals.”

Conversely, the Republican critics of the bill have basically taken a black and white, good guys vs. bad guys approach to the “No Secret Police Act.” 

“Bad guys wear masks because they don’t want to get caught. Good guys wear masks because they don’t want to get killed,” said state Republican Sen. Kelly Seyarto on Thursday. 

You know, if people want to harm you for simply following orders, maybe you aren’t the good guys. I keep waiting for ICE and the people who support them to have their “Are we the baddies?” moment, but I just don’t see it happening.

It’s abundantly clear that the modern Republican Party has very little understanding of world history outside the fact that a group of white dudes founded America. For all their posturing about “freedom” and “liberty,” they don’t seem to realize that masked agents of the state running around disappearing people is generally a function of an authoritarian society, not a democratic republic. But when has the GOP ever let facts get in the way of their feelings? 

California Lawmakers Pass Bill Banning Law Enforcement From Wearing Masks  was originally published on newsone.com