Time to Take the Masks Off

The COVID crisis is over, but anarchists, Marxists, radical Islamists, and subversives are using full-face coverings to hide their identities, so they are free to commit whatever vile deeds they want with immunity. 

For months now, we’ve all seen pro-Hamas terrorist supporters with their faces covered in masks trespassing and encamping in public spaces, taking over buildings, blocking pedestrian or vehicular traffic, burning the U.S. flag, and screaming “death to America,” desecrating our sacred monuments, destroying property, violating civil rights, and inciting and committing violence. Unfortunately, they assume that the masks are their “get out of jail free card.”

According to the NY Post, a 200-year-old law in New York banning such disguises by groups in public was repealed in 2020 because of the pandemic. However, now many are rightfully calling for this law to be reinstated. Further, there have been similar laws in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and other states to protect public safety.

People who aren’t ashamed of what they are doing do not need to hide themselves. It’s when they want to act out like animals and try to get away with it that they want to be incognito!

Good, decent people speak up and advocate for what they believe every day, and they do it openly, honestly, ethically, and lawfully. But those who seek to create anarchy and chaos, violate others’ rights, act immorally, and illegally hide their identities like thieves in the night.

Shining light on issues and putting them out in the open to be respectfully debated, constructively examined, and refined is how we advance good in the world. Hiding behind masks, creating dark “liberation zones,” screaming and interrupting others, intimidation, bullying, and violent mob behavior is how they push for their radical agendas of hate, racism, and subversion.

Peaceful assembly and free speech are one thing, but loosely throwing these terms around with a mask over their faces to hide their deceitful, violent, and criminal agendas is quite another. Hiding behind masks and keffiyehs, they deceitfully and hypocritically call out “genocide” in Gaza, which is actually a war that Hamas started and is losing, while they brainlessly chant for the genocide of the Jews “from the river to the sea.”

Speech is connected to behavior, and when, under the cover of their masks, they intimidate, threaten, deprive others of their rights, undermine public safety, and commit violence, they are no longer “peaceful protesters.” Some recent examples include:

• Thugs kicked, punched, and stamped on a Jewish man in north-west London as “revenge” for Gaza.
• A masked Palestinian slashed and spray-painted a historic painting at the University of Cambridge.
• Masked anti-Israel protesters blocked a Jewish student from getting to class at UCLA.
• A pro-Palestinian protester threatened to repeat the murderous rampage of October 7 on Jewish students at Columbia University.

If people believe in the righteousness of what they are saying and are behaving on the “up and up,” then they do so openly and honestly. But if they are intent on committing wrongdoing, they hide behind their masks and in mobs, afraid to show themselves to the world. They need umbrellas cowering from the cameras and insist that the media only talk with designated “spokespeople” to tiptoe around and gloss over their genuine hate-filled and racist agenda.

To put it simply, we need to make it illegal again to hide treachery and evil behind a face mask in public. Moreover, this is an urgent situation because we need to take their masks off before they “take their gloves off” and kill someone. 

Whether it’s the KKK looking to lynch their next victim or pro-Hamas terrorist protesters wanting to murder “Zionists,” let’s ban nationwide the full face covering and allow law enforcement and the Justice Department to do their jobs in holding criminals accountable. We shouldn’t have to live afraid of masked men on our streets and campuses who act out with malign intent and impunity.

Law and order are a must for any civilized society and for good to prevail over evil. The devil hides amongst us, speaks deceit, and commits violence, but the angel is here to let the light of G-d speak truth and bring goodness into the world.