An 18-year-old has become the first person to be arrested in relation to the controversial face covering ban which was signed into law in Nessau County, New York earlier this month.
The Mask Transparency Act bans wearing face coverings in public – with exemptions for health and religious reasons – and is the first of its kind in the US.
Legislators claimed it would serve as a public safety measure to target those who cover their faces while committing crimes, however critics have argued it poses a risk to those wishing to peacefully protest with their identities concealed.
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According to Nessau County Police, Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, of Hicksville, was arrested on Sunday in Levittown following reports that a “suspicious male” had been seen walking “eastbound on Spindle Road, dressed in black, and wearing a mask to conceal his identity”.
#NassauCountyPD reports the arrest of 18-year-old Hicksville man for possessing a knife after Officers responded to...
Posted by Nassau County Police Department on Wednesday 28 August 2024
Upon further investigation, police said the teenager “continued to display suspicious behavior while attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband which was discovered to be a 14″ knife”.
“Defendant Ramirez Castillo refused to comply with officers’ commands as he was placed under arrest without further incident,” officials said.
Mr Ramirez Castillo was charged with possession of a weapon, obstructing governmental administration and breaching the county’s Mask Transparency Act.
He was then arraigned on Monday at Hempstead’s First District Court .
As per NBC News, the attorney in chief for the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, Scott Banks, declined to comment on case specifics, but did question the lawfulness of the arrest under New York state law.
“It appears unlikely the police had a constitutional basis to stop and detain Mr Castillo for wearing a face mask under long-standing New York law and the state constitution,” he said.
He added that there was “no basis to believe that the alleged wearing of a face mask, as alleged in this case, was intended to conceal identity or purported criminal behavior which the Nassau law is intended to deter.”
The law has recently been challenged in federal court over claims that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
