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A regulation banning the superfluous carrying of masks in public has been signed into regulation in Nassau County, New York.
Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman signed the ban into regulation on Wednesday, codifying the laws handed by state lawmakers final week.
“What we’re seeing is lots of people have been going into shops carrying a masks, shoplifting. After which it was very troublesome to apprehend them as a result of we did not have a capability to establish them,” Blakeman informed Fox Information Digital.
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Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman, at a podium, speaks throughout a information convention in Mineola, New York. (AP Picture/Philip Marcelo)
He continued, “So, we crack down on that. And one of many ways in which we have to crack down on it’s to have the ability to establish who’s committing these felony acts and to ensure that these individuals are arrested.”
Lawmakers in Nassau County permitted a invoice final week criminalizing the carrying of face masks in public locations, with exemptions for individuals who cowl their faces for well being causes or non secular or cultural functions. Supporters of the invoice within the Republican-controlled Lengthy Island county say it will stop violent protesters from hiding their identification.
The regulation makes using a masks to hide one’s identification punishable with as much as a 12 months in jail and a tremendous of $1,000.
Requested about how police will decide whether or not a masks is getting used with out cheap trigger, Blakeman informed Fox Information Digital that if police “have an inexpensive suspicion that somebody is utilizing the masks to interact in a felony exercise… they might cease and query these people and make a willpower as to what their intentions have been.”
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“This can be a query of people that put on masks to interact in violent acts, to interact in harassment, to shoplift, to rob banks. These are the individuals we need to cease. And whether or not they’re white, black or another shade, isn’t a determinative issue,” Blakeman stated. “The elements are whether or not or not, that masks is getting used to cover their identification as a result of they’re about to interact in nefarious exercise.”
The invoice was launched by Republican District 10 legislator Mazi Pilip, who beforehand informed Fox Information Digital over the cellphone that lawmakers heard residents “loud and clear” after they expressed their need to really feel secure of their communities.
A public listening to relating to the invoice on Aug. 5 drew protesters, certainly one of whom was dragged out for disrupting the proceedings and arrested for obstructing governmental administration.
“I respect the liberty of speech,” stated Pilip, who ran for Congress in a particular election earlier this 12 months however misplaced to Rep. Tom Suozzi. “I believe we encourage individuals to come back, to rally, to precise their concern. That is the gorgeous factor about our nation.”
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Nassau County Govt Bruce Blakeman speaks in entrance of the doorway of Columbia College, occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters in New York on April 2024. (CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP through Getty Pictures)
He continued, “Nevertheless, there isn’t any method we are going to help individuals who [are] hiding their faces and mainly attacking or spreading hate speech and inspiring others to take action. We’re not going to permit that.”
Monday’s vote by the Nassau County Legislature was alongside social gathering strains, with 12 in settlement and 7 legislators abstaining.
Democratic Legislator Arnold Drucker stated earlier than the vote that the invoice “overstepped and could possibly be detrimental to First Modification rights.”
The New York Civil Liberties Union has additionally expressed deep concern in regards to the invoice, claiming it’s a threat to residents’ security.
Timothy Nerozzi is a author for Fox Information Digital. You possibly can observe him on Twitter @timothynerozzi and might e-mail him at [email protected]
New York county bans carrying masks in public amid crime fears
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