An 18-year-old was arrested after officers responded to reports of a "male wearing a mask to conceal his identity," Nassau County Police said.
A teenager was arrested in New York's suburban Nassau County over the weekend and charged with wearing a face covering to conceal his identity in public, making it the first arrest under the county's new law banning face masks.
Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, 18, of Hicksville, was arrested on Sunday after officers responded to "reports of a suspicious male wearing a mask to conceal his identity," the Nassau County Police Department said in a news release Wednesday. Police said the incident occurred shortly before 8 p.m. in Levittown, a hamlet in Nassau County.
"Upon further investigation, (Ramirez Castillo) continued to display suspicious behavior while attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband which turned out to be a 14” knife," the Nassau County Police Department said. "Defendant Ramirez Castillo refused to comply with officers commands as he was placed under arrest without further incident."
Ramirez Castillo was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, obstructing governmental administration, and violating the county's mask ban, known as the Mask Transparency Act, according to police. He was arraigned Monday at First District Court in Hempstead.
During a news conference Wednesday, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said Ramirez Castillo allegedly told police that he was told to wear the mask and was provided a knife to commit a robbery.
"This individual in himself was not suspicious," Ryder said at the news conference. "The fact that he was wearing that mask is why the call came in, (that's) why it was suspicious."
Ramirez Castillo is the first to be arrested and charged with wearing a face covering in public since the controversial mask ban was passed by the county’s Republican-controlled legislature earlier this month. The law criminalizes wearing face masks to hide identities in public spaces except in cases for medical, religious, or cultural purposes. --->READ MORE HERE
A suburban New York county’s ban on wearing face masks in public discriminates against people with disabilities, hindering them from participating in public life and compelling unnecessary interactions with law enforcement, a federal class-action lawsuit argues.
Nassau County, on Long Island, passed a law this month that bans people from wearing face masks in public, with exceptions for medical and religious needs. Local police are tasked with enforcing the measure, with violators facing up to $1,000 in fines or jail time.
The statute breaches the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and New York law by depriving disabled people “of equal access to public life in Nassau County,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that the exceptions for medical and religious purposes are too vague. Advocacy group Disability Rights New York filed the suit in Eastern District Court of New York on Thursday, asking the court to strike down the law on behalf of two anonymous immunocompromised plaintiffs and fellow disabled people.
The county executive’s office, which signed the bill into law, did not respond to a request for comment. County Executive Bruce Blakeman has said that the bill “is going to protect the public.”
The law stemmed from county legislators’ concern over masked pro-Palestinian protesters, with many who voted in favor pointing to alleged instances of antisemitism that were aided by masking. The county legislature’s 12 Republicans voted yes; all seven Democrats abstained, urging an alternative bill that would have heightened the penalty for masked criminal activity rather than banning mask-wearing altogether. It’s the first mask ban of its kind that targets pro-Palestinian protests, according to the ACLU.
The lawsuit challenging the ban comes as Covid is on the rise: wastewater viral activity levels are “very high” nationally, according to Centers for Disease Control data. Activity is highest in Western states, but New York has seen an uptick in the past 45 days as well, the data shows. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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