Hochul open to banning masks in New York amid explosion of antisemitic protests
NY Post
Gov. Kathy Hochul is considering reviving a New York mask ban to make antisemitic protesters face consequences for their hate.
The governor told CNN late Wednesday that an explosion of recent anti-Jewish incidents in New York City — including one in which masked protesters demanded that “Zionists” raise their hands on a crowded train — were “textbook antisemitism.”
Hochul appeared to back Jewish leaders’ calls, first reported by The Post, to reinstate an anti-masking law that was repealed as the COVID-19 pandemic struck.
“It was repealed at the time, but I absolutely will go back and take a look at this and see whether it can be restored because it is frightening to people,” she said.
“You’re sitting on a subway train and someone puts on a mask like this and comes in — you don’t know if they’re going to be committing a crime, they’re going to have a gun, or whether they’re just going to be threatening or intimidating you because you are Jewish, which is exactly what happened the other day,” she said. “Absolutely unacceptable in the state of New York.”
Supporters of a mask ban contend that making protesters show their faces will help crack down on violent and hateful incidents. They argue that such anti-masking laws were effectively used in the past to combat the Ku Klux Klan’s hooded menace.
