ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) 鈥 New York is expected to create a new criminal charge to levy against people who wear a mask while committing another crime.
The proposal is set to be included in a sweeping state budget bill that will be taken up by lawmakers in the coming days, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Monday.
The measure would make it a misdemeanor for a person to 鈥渦se a mask to conceal their identity when committing a Class A misdemeanor or higher crime or fleeing the scene immediately after committing such a crime,” her office said.
The move comes almost a year after the governor floated the idea because of what she described as concern about people hiding their faces while committing antisemitic acts.
The idea drew from critics who argued a mask ban could stifle protests if people participating wanted to hide their identities to avoid professional or personal repercussions. on New York City subways during the COVID-19 pandemic, and some transit riders have continued covering their faces in an effort to protect themselves against poor air quality underground.
Hochul, a Democrat, had admitted that a mask ban would be difficult to craft and noted that it would have to include exemptions for health, cultural or religious reasons. No legislation immediately emerged on the subject.
Months later, state Sen. James Skoufis, a Democrat, that would have made it a crime for people to wear face masks to harass or threaten someone. Hochul appeared open to the senator’s approach, but critics argued the proposal could lead to subjective enforcement and the proposal did not make it far in the legislative process.
The idea reemerged during recent negotiations over the state budget, carried new weight as the Trump administration has on international students and scholars who have criticized Israel or participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Hochul, at a press conference on Monday, said the term mask ban 鈥渨as probably an overstatement鈥 but still claimed victory on the issue.
鈥淲hat people are looking for is to not have someone be able to get away with wearing a mask when they鈥檙e harming another person, or committing a crime or harassing, or threatening. We got to that, that鈥檚 exactly what this does,鈥 she said.
In an interview, Skoufis said the current proposal responds to concerns about mask wearing while 鈥渞educing the subjectivity that could be involved with law enforcement.”
The influenced negotiations on the policy, Skoufis said.
鈥淲here we landed provides no 鈥 and I mean no 鈥 additional opportunity or tool or mechanism to ICE or federal law enforcement that does not already exist for them here in New York state,鈥 he said, referring to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Allie Bohm, senior policy counsel at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Hochul’s initial mask ban proposal was 鈥渄eeply unpopular鈥 and would have endangered protestors who are now concerned with being identified by the Trump administration.
鈥淲e have a federal government that has made clear that it is planning to target and is targeting people it disagrees with, and that very much includes protestors,” Bohm said.
