CITING “CIVIL UNREST” in American cities, the Department of Homeland Security has accelerated new regulations meant to expand the powers of a little-known federal police force.

The new rules drew scant notice when they were first proposed during the twilight of the Biden administration. Now, using language about “rioters” at federal facilities, the Trump administration is fast-tracking the rule changes — which critics say DHS could use as a pretext to go after protesters wearing frog costumes or making a racket on the streets of Chicago and Portland, Oregon.

Among the new rules was the criminalization of protesters wearing masks. The mask ban ostensibly applies only to those trying to conceal their identity during a crime, but the Trump administration has taken an expansive view of criminal behavior in protests that includes an array of First Amendment-protected activity.

  • AlexLost@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    So, ICE are breaking federal laws then, eh? They are wearing masks while commiting crimes against legal, authorized citizens fo the country. You’ll ha e a hard time using that law in a court of law

  • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    trying to conceal their identity during a crime

    Sounds a lot more like what ICE is doing than what the frogs are doing.

    • Chaotic_Altruist@lemmy.zip
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      2 days ago

      I can’t verify the identify of a masked “ICE agent” so I can only assume they are a malicious person who is lying about their identity and trying to kill me.

      • PeacefulForest@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        As a woman, if masked men with no IDs came at me I would absolutely shoot. I don’t care if they shoot me too, they will probably kill me in the back of their van anyway.

        My MAGA family taught me to defend myself by all means necessary.

        • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          20 hours ago

          Yup, the “don’t let them take you to a second location” kidnapping rule 100% applies if they’re masked and don’t identify themselves.

          For the unaware, anything a kidnapper will do to you on the street will be infinitely worse if they manage to get you to a second location. Their primary goal is getting you off the street so they can get you to a private location, (away from any bystanders or prying eyes). If you’re getting kidnapped, you should assume that “getting killed in the street” is the better option, compared to whatever the hell they have planned after they have you in private. So you should force them to either leave you alone or murder you right then and there. This includes using lethal force against them, because we’ve already established that murder is their best intention.

          And if ICE is masking up and refusing to ID, they should be treated like kidnappers. Which means the “make them kill you on the street” rule applies.

        • Yeather@lemmy.ca
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          2 days ago

          This is why they’re targeting people who cannot have firearms in states with the most restrictions on firearm ownership for everyone else.

  • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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    2 days ago

    Very tangential but:

    I’ve always suspected the reason the chuds had such massive pushback over masking up during covid (or just whenever you are sick) is related to this.

    People vastly overestimate the effectiveness of even an n95 for defeating facial recognition (as well as facial recognition mattering less if you can trace someone, via cameras, back to when they put the mask on in the first place). But it very much felt like manufactured hatred by The Thin Blue Line.

    • Xanthobilly@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Chuds are just following propaganda. It’s the wealthy that fed them that obsession, and yes, they definitely want facial recognition.

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        23 hours ago

        A small rock in your shoe will change it enough that you won’t be recognizable from gait alone.

    • TheObviousSolution@lemmy.ca
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      2 days ago

      They are heading the way of Russia, so expect them to begin bringing out prison buses to protests to round up all the people they arrest.

      • Fedizen@lemmy.world
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        22 hours ago

        Now would be a good time for cities to shut down roads near ice facilities for vehicle traffic. Make it impossible for these freaks. Leave them a giant maze of construction and pedestrian only roads to navigate to get in and out of facilities.

  • Zaktor@sopuli.xyz
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    2 days ago

    Rules can’t criminalize anything. The thing they’re thinking of is “laws”. Which haven’t changed.

    This is not to say they won’t arrest people. It’ll just either be for a law that already existed that we were just assuming they wouldn’t abuse, or it will be an illegal arrest to hopefully be quickly booted from court by a judge.

  • tornavish@lemmy.cafe
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    2 days ago

    For those interested, California, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Florida also have this as a state law.

          • tornavish@lemmy.cafe
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            2 days ago

            I’d argue the only state qualified to “lead” anything is Washington State. California is way too political. Oregon is Purple with a loud rainbow dot around Portland.

            The rest of the country is just laughable.

            CASCADIA NOW!

            • Soggy@lemmy.world
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              21 hours ago

              Eh, WA has a very regressive tax system that needs a change to the state constitution to fix before it can be a shining paragon of goodness. That and the ludicrous cost of housing/living.

              • tornavish@lemmy.cafe
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                19 hours ago

                All of that is subjective though. Yes the cost is higher, but I get paid more. I looked at other cheaper states, but they don’t pay much.

                I don’t agree with you at all on the taxes though. I basically pay zero state taxes.

                • Soggy@lemmy.world
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                  16 hours ago

                  That’s kinda the problem. We don’t have an income tax so everything is handled through sales and property (and miscellaneous fees and levys but I don’t want to get too granular). It disproportionately impacts lower-earning households who see a much greater proportion of their money lost to daily expenses or housing costs that raise far faster than their wages. We literally cannot enact a fair income tax because the atate constitution disallows anything but a flat rate which also disproportionately affects lower incomes.

              • tornavish@lemmy.cafe
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                1 day ago

                If anyone sees California as a leader of the country, they do not know anything about the country. Perhaps a few decades ago California was pushing a bit more than other states, but those days are long gone and… Nearly forgotten. Except all of those things that give you cancer… California is definitely a world leader on labeling Carcinogens

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                  1 day ago

                  California’s problems are real—no one’s denying that, in fact that’s quite literally what I was saying. However, let’s be honest: the same states laughing at California’s struggles are the ones copying its policies while doing nothing to fix their own mess. They use its tech, stream its movies, and copy its climate policies… and then they’re sitting there saying, “You don’t know anything about the country.” They’re just not paying attention to the data.

  • U7826391786239@lemmy.zip
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    2 days ago

    they use their AI and data harvesting from myriad security camera footage/social media posts to attach every face at every protest to a name and physical address

    can’t do that if you’re wearing a mask and left your phone at home