Ohio’s attorney general is warning state university presidents that students wearing masks during pro-Palestinian protests could be charged with felonies.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to university presidents on May 6, warning them that students wearing masks when they were arrested during the protests could see their misdemeanor charges morph into felonies, as permitted by an obscure, Ohio law that has been in effect since 1953.
Effective on Oct. 1, 1953, to dissuade members of the Ku Klux Klan from hiding their identities while engaging in demonstrations meant to intimidate blacks, the section consists of one sentence:
“No person shall unite with two or more others to commit a misdemeanor while wearing white caps, masks, or other disguise.”
Mr. Yost advises the university presidents that a violation of this old, yet still-active “anti-disguise” law amounts to a fourth-degree felony, punishable by up to $5,000 in fines, five years on community control, and between six and 18 months in prison.
“This punishment is significantly greater than misdemeanors that typically follow minor infractions that accompany student protests,” he said.
Protesters around the country have increasingly taken to wearing masks, scarves, and other face coverings to hide their identity. This has become increasingly popular among the students involved in the pro-Palestinian protests at campuses across the United States.
In a 2012 address to the Canadian Parliament’s Justice Committee, former Royal Canadian Mounted Police Officer Patrick Webb said that banning masks at protests was crucial because most of the protesters “have really little to no interest in making a point of view known but simply come to an event just so they can commit criminal acts, with little chance of retribution.”
‘Republicans Are Afraid of Young People’
State Sen. Bill DeMora (D-Columbus) says the letter is a threat to students’ right to free speech.“Our attorney general is threatening students with a law meant to protect people from the KKK,” he told The Epoch Times, noting that COVID-19 didn’t exist when this law was implemented. “How is he going to determine who isn’t wearing a mask for safety reasons because they don’t want to get COVID?”
“College students have the right to express their opinions but now he’s found some obscure law about the KKK to try to scare kids,” he said.
Mr. DeMora suggested that Mr. Yost is dusting off the old law as a means of silencing the student protesters because “Republicans are afraid of young people.”
He noted that most young people don’t agree with Republicans or their policies because they tend to be more progressive, which is why he said Republicans are also trying to make it harder for college students to vote.
The average length of a college semester is 15 to 17 weeks, long enough to qualify for a state ID or driver’s license.
Mr. DeMora is accurate in saying most college-aged voters identify as Democrats.
Mr. DeMora thinks the effort of Ohio’s attorney general is an effort to stifle the First Amendment rights of today’s college students.
“David Yost has nothing better to do than find some 70-year-old law to target college students,” he charged, saying the student protesters should be able to exercise their rights of free speech, no matter who they are or what their cause.
“They have the right to protect their free speech without having some felony baloney thrown at them meant to tackle the Ku Klux Klan 70 years ago,” he said. “It’s all just one big game to these guys to keep young people from participating in democracy because they realize young people don’t share the same values as they do.”
Mr. Yost indicated in his letter that he didn’t want to see anyone’s freedom of speech rights truncated. Nor does he want to see someone “surprised” to find out that they’ve broken a law doing so.
“The First Amendment is a shield against the government, not a sword against fellow students,” he warned, advising students to take care to conduct their protests within the boundaries of the law “and not commit crimes.”
He said they should also “own their advocacy and avoid wearing masks.”
He acknowledges that some Ohio students aren’t aware of the little-known law, or the risk their conduct poses on their future.
“As the semester draws to a close, let’s send the students home safely—and without surprise criminal records.”
