Mass. lawmaker files bill that would ban law enforcement from wearing masks, with exceptions

BOSTON — A Massachusetts lawmaker has filed a bill that would ban law enforcement from wearing masks, with exceptions.

The bill filed by state Rep. James Hawkins, an Attleboro Democrat representing the 2nd Bristol district, comes amid controversy of some federal ICE agents and officers wearing masks in recent months while making local arrests.

“We’ve seen recently a real erosion in public trust — people don’t trust law enforcement that’s coming,” Hawkins told WPRI-TV. “We’ve got women and children who are taken by masked people who are not identified and they’re removed. That’s scaring a lot of people.”

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in June that federal agents and officers have been “doxed” on social media, and sometimes wear masks while on duty and making immigration arrests after officers, and their families, have received death threats.

“People are out there taking photos of the names, their faces and posting them online with death threats to their family and themselves,” Lyons said in June after announcing the arrests of nearly 1,500 people in Massachusetts in May alone who are living in the U.S. illegally, more than half of whom have ‘significant’ criminal backgrounds.

“So I’m sorry if people are offended by them wearing masks, but I’m not gonna let my officers and agents go out there and put their lives on the line and their family on the line because people don’t like what immigration enforcement is,” Lyons said in June, weeks after saying assaults against ICE officers are up more than 400 percent.

Border czar Tom Homan said recently those numbers have since climbed to more than 700 percent.

Boston 25 has reached out to Lyons for comment on the new bill, which is titled “An Act ensuring law enforcement identification and public trust.”

Hawkins’ bill would allow law enforcement the exception of wearing masks to protect them from viruses or environmental toxins. It would also allow SWAT team officers to use gear to protect their faces to protect them from physical harm.

“A law enforcement officer shall not wear any mask or personal disguise while interacting with the public in the performance of their duties, except for medical grade masks that are surgical or N95 respirators designed to prevent the transmission of airborne diseases and masks designed to protect against exposure to smoke or toxins during a state of emergency,” the bill states.

The bill would also require law enforcement officers at the local, state and federal level to include their name or badge number on their uniforms.

Should the bill become law, violations would be punishable as a misdemeanor.

ICE officers and agents remain “undeterred in their mission” to remove dangerous criminals from local streets and neighborhoods, the White House said in a statement released at 1:28 p.m. Tuesday.

“The brave men and women of ICE are under siege by deranged Democrats — but undeterred in their mission,“ the White House said. “Every day, these heroes put their own lives on the line to get the worst of the worst — criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, and other violent criminals — off our streets and out of our neighborhoods.”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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