Exclusive | DOJ sues New York over law barring federal agents from wearing masks
WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice is suing New York over a law set to take effect this week that would bar federal agents from wearing masks, opening them up to “harassment, tracking, intimidation, and assaults.”Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and other DOJ attorneys in the Civil Division filed the lawsuit Monday in Buffalo federal court, alleging that New York Gov.Kathy Hochul tucked the unconstitutional law into the state’s annual budget.“Governor Hochul cannot tell Federal officers how to do their job,” Woodward said.
“And she certainly cannot prohibit them from ensuring their own safety in conducting Federal law enforcement operations.”The suit, which also names New York Attorney General Letitia James, claims that the Face Covering and Identification Acts “violate the principles of intergovernmental immunity and the Supremacy Clause of the U.S.Constitution,” according to the 40-page filing, which notes that the law is set to take effect June 26.Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, DEA agents and others would then be subject “to criminal penalties” for wearing masks.
Other provisions in the Empire State budget also run afoul of federal law by requiring local governments to terminate enforcement agreements with the feds, the lawsuit contends.“The need to protect Special Agents’ identities and association with DEA is not confined to activities which would compromise that particular investigation; rather, the exposure of Special Agents’ identities and association with DEA even in an overt DEA operation could enable suspects to identify those agents who become involved in future undercover operations, which would obstruct those future actions,” the suit states.“Increasingly, members of the public photograph, film, and publish federal enforcement actions online and include the personal identities of federal officers for the sole purpose of intimidation and harassment...