Tribune Editorial: If masks are good enough for ICE, they are good enough for the people

“The right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,” is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution doesn’t say anything about what those protected protesters might be wearing.

As of Friday, the Utah House of Representatives has approved a measure — HB331 — designed to make it easier to criminalize public protests, designate those who participate in them as terrorists and evict them from the public square.

And it makes it illegal for those protesting to conceal their identities. You know, by wearing masks. Like ICE agents often do. As they and other law enforcement agents will still be allowed to do in Utah because a proposal to ban it was shot down by a Senate committee early in the legislative session.

Being a little obnoxious in public is key to the kind of protest that makes a difference, from the Boston Tea Party to Black Lives Matter. It draws attention to a perceived wrong, though those involved often risk turning public opinion against them if they are excessively disruptive.

The House move to crack down on public protests is needless and threatens the right of the people to effectively protest things that need protesting. Which doesn’t happen that often.

The ban on protesters wearing masks is an appalling double standard in a state that allows invading federal agents to hide their identities.

People marching in the streets don’t work for the taxpayers. They are not obligated to behave in a way that allows legislative and public oversight of their actions.

Protesters also have reason to fear that ICE and other federal agencies are photographing the faces of people engaging in totally lawful demonstrations and observation and threatening to add them to a federal database of suspected “domestic terrorists.”

If Utah lawmakers aren’t going to make federal goons acting under color of law to show their faces, they should give the people standing up for their, and everyone’s, constitutional rights the same protections.

Editorials represent the opinions of The Salt Lake Tribune editorial board, which operates independently from the newsroom.