President Donald Trump declared that people protesting federal immigration enforcement actions in Southern California were breaking the law by wearing masks — and would be arrested for doing so.
“Great job by the National Guard in Los Angeles after two days of violence, clashes and unrest. These Radical Left protests, by instigators and often paid troublemakers, will NOT BE TOLERATED,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social social media network late Saturday night, ahead of the National Guard’s arrival in the city on Sunday morning. “Also, from now on, MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests.”
The prohibition won’t stand up in court, according to Jonathan Markovitz, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Southern California.
“Trump’s threat to arrest anyone wearing masks at protests is blatantly unconstitutional,” he wrote in an email on Monday. “The Supreme Court has recognized that there are times where anonymity is essential to allow people to exercise their constitutional rights.”
The protesters opposing the istration’s immigration enforcement actions have reason to conceal their identities, Markovitz wrote.
“In the current political climate, people who seek to challenge policies or practices that harm vulnerable or dispossessed communities have been especially likely to be targeted for violent reprisal,” he wrote. “It is understandable that they would take measures to avoid such reprisal, as well as to avoid potentially blatant political prosecution. Trump has no authority to carry out his threat, but his attempt to chill free speech is reprehensible.”
But there’s no absolute right to wear a mask in public under all circumstances. California, for one, has an 1872 law that bans wearing a mask, “false whiskers,” or other personal disguises for the purpose of concealing their identity in connection with breaking the law. Those who violate it are guilty of a misdemeanor.
Southern California legislators this week condemned Trump’s mask declaration.
“Prohibiting masks at protests are ridiculous,” Assemblymember Mark González, D-Los Angeles, said Monday afternoon. “Protesters have the right to face coverings. It’s a violation of basic rights.”
Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, agreed.
“Threatening to arrest people simply for wearing masks is nothing more than an intimidation tactic designed to suppress dissent,” she wrote in an email Monday afternoon. “The real threat is the President using fear and force to silence criticism. Californians and all Americans have a constitutional right to protest and to protect themselves while doing so.”
González said he’s witnessed first-hand masked troublemakers showing up during the aftermath of a protest Friday in Chinatown.
“Agitators showed up, full masks, goggles, sunglasses, you name it,” González said. “And they immediately started jumping on vehicles.”
He said he believes the masked protesters — armed with sledgehammers, vandalizing local neighborhoods while carrying Mexican flags — were there to help create a climate of chaos.
“I don’t have proof that these are Trump ers, but this is what Trump wants,” González said.
Trump is opposed to mask-wearing protesters, asking “what do these people have to hide, and why???” in his post. But masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been at the heart of many immigration raids in recent weeks.
On June 6, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson told Fox News that U.S. ICE agents need to be masked and anonymous for their own protection.
“They need to back off of ICE and respect our agents and stop protesting against them,” he said. “They’re trying to uphold the rule of law, and they don’t want to be targeted by Democrat activists. So I’m in favor of whatever protocol.”
Since returning to office, Trump has conducted an unprecedented immigration enforcement campaign. The White House has said it intends to deport 1 million people a year. According to the istration, between Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20 and April 1, more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants were deported.
On Friday and Saturday, ICE agents reportedly conducted raids across Los Angeles County. A parking lot at a Home Depot in Paramount was apparently being used as an ICE staging ground, leading to protesters converging on the location. Protesters were met with rubber bullets and tear gas.
Characterizing the Paramount protest as “lawless,” Trump deployed the California National Guard over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom. The last time a president deployed National Guard troops without the consent of a state’s governor was 1965, when President Lydon B. Johnson deployed the Alabama National Guard to protect civil rights protesters.
Newsom asked a federal court Tuesday to block the Trump istration from using the National Guard and Marines to assist with immigration raids in Los Angeles, saying the practice would only heighten tensions. Newsom filed the emergency request after Trump ordered the deployment to LA of roughly 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines following protests driven by anger over the president’s stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws.
Earlier this week, Newsom formally asked for the National Guard troops to be returned to California’s control and announced the state would sue the Trump istration over the decision to commandeer the troops.
Beau Yarbrough of Southern California News Group and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
