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Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman signed the county’s controversial mask ban into law this morning as expected, making it the first such ban in the nation.
The law, effective immediately, makes it illegal to wear masks in public to conceal your identity. Masks will still be permitted for health and religious reasons.
“We’ve seen people using masks to commit crimes, from shoplifting to carjacking to robbing banks. This bill gives our police another tool to maintain Nassau County as the safest big county in America,” he said.
Violating the new law is a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Backers of Nassau’s Mask Transparency Act say the ban will help prevent crime during protests, while opponents fear it comprises the safety of residents, and violates their first amendment rights.
Blakeman’s official stamp of approval comes after county legislators this month approved the bill. The legislature’s 12 Republicans all voted in favor of the measure, while all seven Democrats abstained.
It was introduced in response to “antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks” in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war, Legislator Howard Kopel said during a public meeting on the mandate, according to reports.
The New York Civil Liberties Union strongly opposes the ban, stating that making anonymous protest illegal chills political action and is ripe for selective enforcement.
Such a ban can lead to “doxxing, surveillance and retaliation against protesters,” Susan Gottehrer, regional director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
Blakeman, a Republican, said after the legislature’s vote that “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.”
While noting COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the country, Gottehrer countered that “face coverings are critical to protecting the health of an individual, their family, and their community … Nassau County police officers are not health professionals or religious experts capable of deciding who needs a mask and who doesn’t.”
Editor’s note: Our original report was updated after Blakeman signed the mask-ban new law this morning.
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