On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost warned that masked individuals who sign up for pro-Hamas demonstrations may face legal action under a law intended to oppose the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). He wrote a letter to the president of nearby universities.
There are national anti-KKK statutes that forbid masked protesters from protesting on other people’s property with the intention of threatening residents by violating their civil rights, according to a recent article from Breitbart News.
There are identical condition laws, such as a 1953 Ohio law that “makes it a third- degree felony for two or more people to commit any crime up’ while wearing bright caps, masks, or another disguise”, a Columbus NBC affiliate reported.
Yost’s letter says, in part (original emphasis ):
Ohio Revised Code 3761.12 makes it a misdemeanor to undertake a crime–even a criminal, such as trespass–with two or more different people while wearing masks. The legislation in total reads:
” No man shall unite with two or more people to undertake a criminal while wearing white cap, faces, or other illusion”.
A infraction of this “anti- disguiseâ„¢ legislation is a third- degree felony criminal by between six and 18 months of prison. Additionally, those found guilty may be subject to a maximum fine of$ 5, 000 and community control for up to five years. ( See Ohio Revised Code 3761.99.) This penalty is much greater than the misdemeanors that usually follow minor infractions that occur during student protests.
I do n’t want to see anyone who violates the First Amendment be denied or surprised that they have been harmed.
The First Amendment is a weapon against the state, not a weapon against other students.
In the first place, students really rally within the boundsof the laws, and never commit crimes. They should also avoid using masks while maintaining their campaigning.
Yost urged academics to share the law’s implications with students.
Pro- Hamas” outposts “have appeared on tens of campuses throughout the region, using racist rhetoric
Joel B. Pollak is Top Editor- at- Big at Breitbart News and the number of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday night from 7 p. m. to 10 p. m. ET ( 4 p. m. to 7 p. m. Platinum ). He is the creator of the new e- book”, The Zionist Conspiracy ( and how to meet it ),” then available on Audible. He is also the author of the e- book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U. S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
