The public can weigh in at a hearing on Monday on whether Boston should bar people from wearing masks at public events — a rule proposed following violence against cops and the public at the Straight Pride Parade in August.
The hearing on the proposed ordinance change will take place at 1 p.m. Monday in the Iannella City Council chambers on the fifth floor of City Hall.
City Councilor Tim McCarthy, who proposed the rule to bar people from covering their faces on public property, said the Boston Police Department, the MBTA Transit Police and the state police have all been invited to talk about this — and anyone who wants to weigh in for or against can show up to speak at the public comment portion as well.
“This is definitely in response to what happened, and we need to make it sure it doesn’t happen again,” McCarthy told the Herald. “We’ve got to see what can we do as a city to make sure the public and police are safe.”
This comes after people showed up among the protesters against the Straight Pride Parade clad all in black and with their faces obscured by masks. Cops say it was mainly those — many from out of state — who caused trouble and fought with police and the conservative parade-goers.
Many of the 36 people arrested at the parade protest were vouched for by antifa — short for “anti-fascist” — which is a loose collection of left-wing agitators who in recent years have shown up at protests and other events to shut down conservative speakers, sometimes assaulting rivals.
“We’re covered in black so when we attack these guys we can’t be prosecuted,” said Jon Crowley, a self-identified antifa member who told the Herald at the Aug. 31 right-wing parade that he felt violence was the only way to deal with the people marching in the parade, which went from Copley Square to City Hall.
McCarthy’s hearing order, which cites the Herald interview with Crowley, is “to discuss prohibiting the wearing of a mask, hood or other device to conceal any portion of the face to conceal the identity of the wearer upon or within Public Property in Boston.” He said the language of the law would have to be refined so it wouldn’t encompass, say, a person walking down the street in a hoodie or a guy in a Santa beard at a Christmas parade.
State Sen. Dean Tran (R-Fitchburg) is advocating for a similar statewide ban on Beacon Hill. He has introduced a bill that would prohibit people from wearing masks and other disguises at public events. The bill also would toughen penalties for people who commit violence while disguised or wearing a mask at a public event, according to Tran’s office.
