Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) penned a sharply-worded letter to New York Governor Kathy Hochul accusing her of failing to prioritize legislation banning the wearing of masks at public protests in order to combat the antisemitism and violence that have become endemic to anti-Israel protests in the New York City area, the New York Post reported.
“Your lip service to a mask ban means nothing without legislation and executive orders that match the words with deeds," Torres wrote to Hochul. “The People of New York need decisive action from a governor who has been absent in the fight to unmask hate.”
He added, “The State of New York’s acceptance of masked harassment and intimidation against Jewish students on college campuses violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of race, color, or national origin."
“As governor, the buck stops with you," Torres told Hochul.
In response to the Post's article on his letter, Torres wrote on X, "The time has come for Governor Kathy Hochul to reinstate a mask ban. The State of New York can no longer stand by idly and allow masked mobs to orchestrate hostile takeovers of college campuses. There should be zero tolerance for the kind of violence and vandalism we saw at Barnard College."
New York had a ban on wearing masks in public for decades. The mask ban was used to combat hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. However, the mask ban was repealed during the coronavirus pandemic of 2020.
Jewish organizations and officials have called for the mask ban to be reinstated in response to the use of masks and other face coverings by anti-Israel protesters who use the cover of anonymity to commit acts of violence and antisemitism without fear of arrest or punishment.
On Wednesday, anti-Israel activists at Barnard College, affiliated with Columbia University, stormed a campus building in protest of the expulsion of two students who had disrupted an Israeli professor’s class earlier this semester.
Footage posted to social media showed dozens of activists, many covering their faces with keffiyehs, chanting and beating a drum in a hallway adorned with Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags.
The protesters shouted, among other things, “Every fascist state must fall” and, “Palestine is Arab.” A university employee was assaulted by protesters and hospitalized.
On Thursday, Governor Hochul was forced to cancel an event at City College due to safety concerns stemming from a gathering of anti-Israel protesters.