Unmasking Antifa Act introduced in Congress, carries potential 15 year prison sentence

Technically it's not a mask, it's a bandanna.

Allow me to be more specific: covering one's face so as to preclude identification during a violent, unlawful act should carry some extra penalty.

Is being identifiable a prerequisite for exercising one's First Amendment right to protest?

Because again, this isn't just targeting violent and unlawful acts--it's criminalizing something that is not a crime: intimidation. Is simply covering one's face considered intimidation?

No, and is not required.

The part of my text you overlook is "during a violent, unlawful act."

If, say, an old person is approached on a dark city street by a big, young person wearing a mask, and the young person requests $5, would you consider this intimidation?

Context matters.

Yep. The same gimmick guys used to use when robbing banks or trains. Good argument.

The Klan hood is a mask, and I'm intimidated by them just being around, because they've been a bunch of terrorists and murderers in the past.
Can I have the Klan locked up just for skeeving me out?
I'm betting not.

Certain actions when undertaken in conjunction with criminal activity are presumed to be indicative of criminal intent.

If you flee from the scene of a crime, your evasion of arrest can be used as evidence of the knowledge of your guilt.

If you bring a gun to an robbery--even if you don't use or show the gun--can be used as evidence that you expected and were willing to engage in violence.

If you conceal your identity while committing a crime of violence, it should be inferred that you intended the concealment of your identity to allow you to escape arrest and prosecution.

What if I'm innocent, but I know the cops are a bunch of "shoot first", murderers, and I don't want to die?
Just let them get me?

If you're a real American, yes. It's for the good of the children. Why do you hate the children, Dickynoo?

What if my face is eaten out by face cancer, and I have a medical facial prosthesis?
Does my face prosthesis count as a mask?
What if I'm out and about in my prosthesis, and I accidentally walk away a with a candy bar without paying?
Do I get my extra 15 years?
Is there wiggle room, or is this one of those "zero tolerance", deals that handcuffs a judge like he's a robot?

If they are engaging in unlawful activity, yes.

As Chad pointed out "intimidation", can be a pretty vague term.
Ask any black guy hat had an old lady whip out her cellphone because she was scared for her purse.

In my view, the offense (1) wasn't violent, (2) may be explainable as unintentional, and (3) didn't involve a specific intent to conceal your identity for criminal purposes.

If you always wear a mask because you face has been eaten out by face cancer, your mask is, in a sense, your identifying feature. "Oh, that mask! Everyone knows him. That's Dickynoo. Face eaten out by cancer. Very sad."

I dunno, I don't think the people that drafted this law thought shit through to this degree.

If I fled, it's because I fear the presupposition of my guilt.
We aren't talking about robbery, we're talking about public demonstrations and counter protest.
If I conceal my identity at a public demonstration, violent or not, it is because of a concern for being documented by either authorities or extremer elements and potentially targeted for expressing a view.

Yup. I'm not interested in making myself an easy target for cowardly Nazi fucks, nor their buddies in law enforcement. Nazis firebombed some nonviolent communists in Alberta as recently as 2008.

No this isn't good, but it's probably also a distraction from whatever Trump is doing right now. It was referred to committee a month ago and has no hearing scheduled. It's deader than the US withdrawal from the UN bill that everyone was freaking out about 17 months ago. Seriously, does no one know how to read a legislative record anymore?

Maybe you did, but it only makes you look bad. Flight can indicate a consciousness of guilt. If you've done nothing wrong, await the authorities to sort it out.

And I'm fine with wearing a mask at a demonstration. Just don't get violent while you're doing it.

Fine. Just don't engage in violent, unlawful activities, which you shouldn't need to do if you're only protesting.

I only buy the greatest hits when they come out.

Yes. At least in the states that have laws against wearing masks. Which is the whole point of those laws that the states passed in the 1960's-1970's. To take on the KKK.

New York state's anti-mask law goes back to 1845. Something about landlords and renters. Still haven't figured that one out.

I doubt it.

Most likely it's the mid-terms are coming up and the GOP wants to make the Democrats look bad by forcing the Democrats to filibuster this bill. Look for this to be a campaign issue.

So you support the Klan wearing hoods?

Would you have supported all those assholes in Charlottesville wearing masks to protect their identity?

Seems to me you guys are only against this law because it would be used against people you support.

I'm against anyone wearing a mask while protesting. If this makes it's way up to SCOTUS and they support people wearing masks than so be it but as of now there is no constitutional right to wearing a mask.

And before you say it: If we can regulate weapons allowed or not allowed, time, location, and costs of a protest (insurance) than certainly the government can regulate the wearing of mask.

If you're going to say a mask is acceptable to wear during a protest than you must also support a protesters 1st Amendment right to be armed or to hold a protest whenever they feel like it without regard to costs. Where in the peacefully assemble part of the First Amendment does it say you have to have insurance and a permit to protest?

If you support any type of regulations on protests than you have no standing to complain about the state saying no masks while protesting.

If you support unmasking the racists you can not support the anti-racists wearing masks.

Here is Georgia's law: "A person is guilty of a misdemeanor when he wears a mask, hood, or device by which any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer and is upon any public way or public property or upon the private property of another without the written permission of the owner or occupier of the property to do so."

As for this law I'm against the Feds doing it. It should be a state level thing. No need for the Feds to be involved. This is nothing more than a campaign stunt for the midterms. No one is expecting it to pass the Senate filibuster.

Nope. Carrying a gun at a protest and wearing a mask at a protest are two wildly divergent things.

It's a House bill. There is no filibuster. It's dead.

No they are not.

If the argument that a mask is acceptable because the government can not tell me that I can and can not wear than the government can not tell me what I can and not carry in addition to what I wear.

Once you accept the government can dictate one thing you have to accept the possibility that it can dictate other things.

I know but if it got that far it would have been stopped by Senate Dems.

Wearing a mask to a protest in order to protect your identity from authorities seeking out dissenters is different than carrying a gun to a protest. There are good, non-violent reasons to wear a mask. You don’t take a gun to a protest unless you plan on using it.

Antifa is fascism and hearing the inside horror story of people who tried to break away from that awful cult was just horrible. An absolutely evil violent extremist group in every way.

Link?

It says if you commit a crime while wearing a mask. So you'd only be covered if you committed a crime and if you are committing a crime then fuck your "protest".