Ban masks? Let's not distinguish between violent anarchists and mardi gras revelers and Seafair Pirates and naked solstice bikers and just make everyone wear government issued bar-coded nametags and problem solved....
Does this mean that political demonstrators who feel intimidated by police, white supremacists, face-recognizing federal surveillance cameras, etc., would need to wear Halloween masks or riot helmets in order to protect their identities while expressing themselves in public?
@6: As a gentle first step in that direction, how about we have those people whose faces are hidden by identical coverings *and* carry weapons on the job wear such identifiers? I find a black bloc armed with guns, crowd-control munitions, and public benefit-of-doubt to be more intimidating than those carrying banners, signs, and Pepsi bottles.
@9: I was at a protest somewhat recently and a police officer addressed me by name, accused me of obstruction, and said that he would make a record of such. Seconds earlier, I had seen another officer repeatedly shoving someone who was walking calmly on the side of the march, so I shone a flashlight on them so that others could see what was happening (it was after dusk). I find that intimidating, and I'm a relatively informed and privileged individual. Masking up next time as a result seems warranted. I was threatened for literally shining a light on what appeared to be police misconduct.
If I did mask up during a future protest, would you consider such to be cowardice or, given the above, simply fear of police misconduct of the sort in which Seattle Police Department staff are known to engage?
It was not long ago that they were found to use force in an unconstitutional manner 20% of the time that they used it, you know. How many of those bad cops (and their partners, supervisors, internal investigators, etc.) have since been fired? A couple, maybe? This says nothing about the honest and hard-working majority within SPD's 3000 staff, but the department is still crawling with hundreds of bad cops.
If it rains, I soak my head. If it's cold, I freeze my ears. Hoods are good protection for both of those things, but a state senator apparently thinks otherwise.
What is 'legal' is not the same as 'ethically correct'. Slavery was legal, and abolitionists (presumably) hid their faces when perpetrating the "crime" of freeing human beings.
In a free society we have to have the ability to commit crimes, because justice does not derive from 'legality',... legality derives from justice.
@5 COMTE: So the conservatives are now waging war on Halloween as well as Christmas.
It's time to declare war on conservatives. We have everything to lose if we don't.
If I'm reading this correctly it would only apply to protesters. It's a fair point. Denmark has laws regarding face hiding all the time. If you can't see someones face, you can't identify them. If people are destroying property and hiding their faces, it is a reasonable to want to remedy that. I can't see it passing though. I wonder who's signed onto the bill.
you don't even know who they are - they're wearing masks!
If I did mask up during a future protest, would you consider such to be cowardice or, given the above, simply fear of police misconduct of the sort in which Seattle Police Department staff are known to engage?
It was not long ago that they were found to use force in an unconstitutional manner 20% of the time that they used it, you know. How many of those bad cops (and their partners, supervisors, internal investigators, etc.) have since been fired? A couple, maybe? This says nothing about the honest and hard-working majority within SPD's 3000 staff, but the department is still crawling with hundreds of bad cops.
What you can write is a law that adds an extra charge/penalty for using a mask to conceal your identity while committing a crime.
Yeah, fuck this noise.
Dude, that happened way back in 2011. Nobody pays attention to shit that was posted on SLOG more than six years ago.
See @12.
In a free society we have to have the ability to commit crimes, because justice does not derive from 'legality',... legality derives from justice.
Actually, nevermind.
It's time to declare war on conservatives. We have everything to lose if we don't.