On the second day after the “No Kings” protest march, Mayor Eric Adams of New York City urged a statewide ban on wearing masks during protest activities on Sunday, June 15th. The goal is to prevent behavior that disrupts social order.
Recently, Adams emphasized that ensuring the safety of city residents has always been his guiding principle. He pointed out that peaceful protest is one of the core values of New York, but violence and lawlessness cannot be tolerated.
“When you see people wearing masks in these protest activities, and some even wearing gas masks, it only emboldens them to behave recklessly,” Adams stated. By prohibiting demonstrators from wearing masks during protests and requiring them to show their faces, they are less likely to engage in disorderly conduct on college campuses and in other cities.
Previously, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York had proposed restrictions on wearing masks in public places, but faced strong opposition from her Democratic colleagues during state budget negotiations.
The governor expressed her intention to revive a century-old mask ban in New York State. Previously, there was a law in New York that allowed the police to charge individuals who wore masks or disguised themselves in public places. However, this law was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic as the government encouraged mask-wearing to prevent disease transmission and mandated mask-wearing on public transportation. In May 2020, New York State lawmakers officially repealed this ban.