Los Angeles County Democrats vote to ban ICE from using masks — and the DOJ issues defiant response
The Democrat-controlled Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to ban the use of masks by federal officials, and the Justice Dept. responded immediately with a fiery statement.
All of the Democrats on the board voted 4-0 in favor of the ordinance on Tuesday, with the lone Republican member abstaining. A second vote on Dec. 9 is needed to pass it. If that happens, law enforcement officers will be required to wear visible identification and agency affiliation.
‘We will not expose our brave men and women to personal attacks by allowing agitators to dox them and their families through facial recognition tools.’
Bill Essayli, the first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, responded immediately to the vote.
“Let me be very clear: the county has no jurisdiction over federal agents, and we will not comply with any state or local laws restricting federal law enforcement,” he posted in a statement on social media.
“Our agents are under unprecedented assault in Los Angeles, largely due to reckless narratives and rhetoric advanced by the media and local politicians,” he added. “We will not expose our brave men and women to personal attacks by allowing agitators to dox them and their families through facial recognition tools.”
In a statement about the vote, Supervisor Janice Hahn accused ICE of behaving like an “authoritarian secret police” force.
“This is how authoritarian secret police behaves — not legitimate law enforcement in a democracy,” Hahn said.
“ICE agents are violating our residents’ rights every day they are on our streets. These agents hide their faces. They refuse to wear badges,” she continued. “They pull people into unmarked vans at gunpoint and wonder why people resist arrest. We are declaring in no uncertain terms that in L.A. County, police do not hide their faces. That is our expectation, and this ordinance will now make it our law.”
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If approved in the second vote, the mask ban will go into effect 30 days after that vote.
Hahn added that the board expects the Trump administration to challenge the ban in court, and it is prepared to take on the court battle.
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