Nassau County in suburban New York has enacted legislation to prohibit the wearing of masks during public protests, with an emphasis on curbing the anonymity of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who oppose U.S. support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, as reported by Reuters.
The mask ban applies to all public protests.
Republican lawmakers in the county argue that the bill is intended to prevent protesters who may engage in violence or antisemitism from concealing their identities and evading accountability. However, civil rights advocates view the measure as a threat to free speech.
The bill, passed on Monday evening, received unanimous support from all 12 Republican members of the county legislature, while the seven Democrats abstained from voting.
Mazi Melesa Pilip
Lawmaker Mazi Pilip proposed the bill.
“Terrorist supporters around the country and especially in New York are hiding behind the mask and terrorizing the Jewish community,” Pilip said.
It categorizes the act of wearing a facial covering to conceal one’s identity in public as a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Exemptions are provided for health or medical reasons, as well as for “religious and cultural purposes.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, explained the rationale behind the bill: “Unless someone has a medical condition or a religious imperative, people should not be allowed to cover their face in a manner that hides their identity when in public.” He is expected to sign the bill into law.
In response, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) condemned the bill as an assault on free speech.
Susan Gottehrer, the Nassau County regional director of NYCLU, stated, “Masks protect people who express political opinions that are unpopular. Making anonymous protest illegal chills political action and is ripe for selective enforcement.”
Gottehrer also criticized the bill’s exceptions, arguing that “Nassau County police officers are not health professionals or religious experts capable of deciding who needs a mask and who doesn’t.”
The backdrop to this legislation is the ongoing protests in the U.S., including in New York, against Israel’s war in Gaza.
The conflict has resulted in nearly 40,000 deaths, according to local health ministry reports, caused a severe hunger crisis, and displaced almost the entire population of 2.3 million people in Gaza. These events have sparked allegations of genocide, which Israel denies.
The most recent escalation in the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on October 7th, when the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages, based on Israeli sources.
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