No Secret Police: California Bill Bans Masks for ICE

California lawmakers introduced a No Secret Police bill to ban masks for law enforcement at all levels, including ICE, making it a misdemeanor offense. Other states need to follow suit immediately.

The Daily is outside the Beltway journalism that focuses on issues that matter to you, so please consider supporting us by becoming a subscriber.

California lawmakers introduced a bill to ban masks for law enforcement at all levels on Monday, which would include ICE.

The bill, introduced by two Democratic Senators Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Jesse Arreguin of Berkeley, is called the "No Secret Police Act” and it prohibits law enforcement from covering their faces, and also requires them to be identifiable via a uniform, name or other identifier.

This type of protection needs to be immediately enacted in all state legislators (in which Democrats have the majority, since Republicans are largely in lock step with Donald Trump and his administration) in order to protect people from masked intruders and kidnappers posing as police and to have some measure of accountability.

It should be obvious to anyone who is capable of critical thought that if a masked person — who does not identify themselves with a badge and claims they don’t need a warrant — swooped down to grab our children or neighbors, we would see it as a violent threat.

It is perceived as kidnapping, and therefore escalates the situation.

Maybe you’re wondering what about health masks or gas masks? No worries, they addressed that. “The measure includes exceptions for SWAT teams, medical-grade masks such as surgical or N95 masks, and masks designed to protect against smoke during a wildfire-related state of emergency,” CBS News reported.

To be clear, even those “ICE” agents who aren’t trained or allegedly even a part of any law enforcement agency are also required to not wear a mask during operations, including immigration, because the bill includes any person acting on behalf of law enforcement from covering their face.

Masked ICE agents grab a man, upsetting community members:

Anyone who recalls how conservatives refused to wear masks during a global pandemic because of their “liberty” might be confused as to why they’re suddenly so enthralled with masks that DHS Sec. Kristi Noem is defending a secret police type force as necessary for immigration enforcement, lest they be doxxed.

But this is a risk police officers take every day, because it is unthinkable to do otherwise in a democracy.

The issues with this policy of disguising identity are obvious, and were explained to Noem by a Democratic lawmaker who told her that ICE agents could be impersonated with a $20 Etsy jacket.

Noem did not change her position, although were this to happen to her or anyone she cares about, things would be different. This is, after all, the woman who felt physically threatened to the point that it necessitated manhandling when a Senator dared to ask her a question.

Those of us capable of critical thought can grasp the problem with an armed masked stranger who does not identify themselves with a badge and claims they don’t need a warrant swooping down to grab our children or neighbors. Most of us would see this as a violent threat.

It is perceived as kidnapping.

Just what kind of force tries to hide their face when carrying out acts of violence?

Liberty and Masks

After years of endangering other people’s lives with conspiracy theories about masks that persist to this day (I live in a Trump district in which there are places that will NOT serve you if you wear a health mask), conservatives now want to pretend there is no reason for law enforcement to not wear a mask.

But in any country that is “free” and values liberty, law enforcement are supposed to be held accountable for their actions.

The reasons for this should be clear, especially to people who have been stockpiling assault weapons because they fear the government so much. But alas, we don’t live in times of shared facts, let alone agreement on basic things like “Gee, it would be nice to wear a mask so we don’t needly endanger our friend’s baby.” Or, “Yes, I think it’s worth wearing a mask to protect the vulnerable in my community.”

And so here we are. Of course this isn’t a neat split down party lines, plenty of Democrats were radicalized during the pandemic and plenty of Independents and Democrats have a knee-jerk reaction to side with law enforcement no matter what.

But on this matter, rational people should agree. Masked law enforcement are up to no good. A secret police force is a bad thing.

The entire point of a secret police force is an attack on democracy, as they are used by dictators to operate outside the law to weaken political opposition and silence dissent.

A definition is helpful:

secret police, Police established by national governments to maintain political and social control. Generally clandestine, secret police have operated independently of the civil police. Particularly notorious examples were the Nazi Gestapo, the Russian KGB, and the East German Stasi. Secret-police tactics include arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution of political enemies and intimidation of potential opposition members.

Donald Trump has already announced that he wants law enforcement to go after “Democrat Power Center” — i.e., go after his opposition.

Law Enforcement Is Ideally Held to Different Standards Than Citizens

Senator Padilla warned after he was aggressively manhandled, thrown to the ground and handcuffed by Noem’s federal agents for asking a question, "If that's how they treat a Senator trying to ask a question… then imagine… what they are doing to so many people without titles.”

Yes. Imagine what they are doing in back allies, in church parking lots, in people’s homes. Imagine that they are masked doing these things. Imagine that they do not have a badge or a warrant while doing these things.

This is why there are different standards for law enforcement than for citizens — because law enforcement has power that citizens do not.

There’s a chorus of people who want to protect the rights of citizens to wear masks in public spaces and at protests, and so they defend law enforcement hiding their identities, but this is a false conflation.

The idea for law enforcement is they have state sanctioned power. They are often armed. They have authority over people. For these reasons, they must identify themselves. If we add in that under Trump, they are going into people’s homes and grabbing people off the streets, the terror of their secret police dominance becomes apparent.

In a democracy, the police show their faces, badges, and warrants.

Protects Law Enforcement

This is also done to protect law enforcement, as people will be more defensive when a masked, unidentified person threatens their safety or that of another person.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police understands how threatening masked law enforcement can be, writing to address this issue during the height of the pandemic, “(M)embers of the general public may be intimidated or fearful of officers wearing a face covering, which may heighten their defensive reactions.”

They suggest the officer remove their mask to introduce themselves at 6 feet away:

Clear communication is imperative.

• Members of the general public may be intimidated or fearful of officers wearing a face covering, which may heighten their defensive reactions.

• Face coverings block facial expressions, which makes verbal communication more prone to misinterpretation.

• When interacting with a member of the public in an outdoor setting, consider stepping at least six feet away to remove your own face covering and introduce yourself, then replace your face covering and continue interaction from a closer distance.

Secret Police is Terrifying and That’s the Point

The issues with law enforcement covering their faces and hiding their identities are well known to anyone in any position of authority, and so the decision to mask and hide ICE agents is done on purpose to maximize terror.

It’s deliberate terrorism of a community seemingly based on a skin color bias, done by people who may or may not even be trained and who are not accountable but too many of whom relish the task with inappropriate glee (according to concerns raised by some troops), which is why it’s giving KKK.

Hopefully, California will pass this bill with the urgency required, and other states will follow. No democracy legalizes people being taken by masked, armed strangers.

What do you think about the California bill banning masked law enforcement? Share your thoughts in the comments below.