2018 “Unmasking Antifa” Act
What is H.R. 6054 (The “Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018”)?
H.R. 6054 (the bill) is Congressional legislation introduced by Rep. Dan Donovan (R-NY) and co-sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ)
and Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) in July of 2018.i
The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism,
Homeland Security and Investigations.
Having failed to obtain convictions against the #J20 Defendants, members of Congress are attempting to specifically target
individuals involved in countering alt-right activity with higher penalties.
What does the bill do?
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It states that anyone wearing a “disguise” who injures, oppresses, threatens or intimidates a person exercising their
constitutional rights is subject to imprisonment for up to 15 years.
ii
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It raises the penalty for individuals that destroy or damage property, or attempt or conspire to do so, to imprisonment for up to
2 additional years in prison if that individual is in “disguise”.
iii
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It specifically exempts any law enforcement officers from the requirements of the law.iv
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The bill specifically includes “wearing a mask” as a “disguise” but remains vague as to how narrow or wide the definition
extends. This vague definition means that the law could apply only to masks, or to a wide variety of face coverings from
facemasks to bandanas. “Oppress” is also not defined, creating further confusion and the potential for targeted enforcement.
v
Is this a new idea?
18 states currently have laws that prohibit the wearing of masks in some form or another.vi Most of these laws were enacted in
order to combat KKK activities but have been increasingly used to target left-wing protestors.vii Rep. Donovan’s office cited these
existing state laws in a fact sheet supporting his bill that also listed off multiple fabricated instances of “Antifa” violence.
viii
It’s Viewpoint Discrimination
While under certain circumstances the government can
regulate the subject matter or manner of speech, the
government is generally never permitted to single out a
particular opinion for stricter regulation.ix
Looking at the title of the bill, along with supporting
statements from Rep. Donovan, it is clear that Antifascist
related speech and assembly are being explicitly
targeted. Where a government law or regulation does
chill or prohibit certain viewpoints either on its face or
through the laws application, it is presumed to be
unconstitutional.
x
It’s Overly Vague
A law violates the Due Process Clause of the 5th
Amendment when it defines a crime, particularly a crime
dealing with free speech, so that ordinary people “of
common intelligence” have to “guess at its meaning”.xi
As mentioned above, “disguise” is not defined anywhere
in the bill and only one example, that of a mask, is given.
“Oppress” on the other hand is not defined at all. Both
the significant confusion as to what crime this bill
describes and the wide discretion provided to law
enforcement officers and prosecutors in order to enforce
such a vague law, raises significant Due Process issues.
What does this mean for protestors?
Given recent prosecutorial trends,this bill, if passed, would put any individual that attends a protest or demonstration
opposing right-wing groups in danger of substantial time in prison.
xii This creates a hard choice for protestors and activists:
choose to not wear a mask and risk being identified by violent right—wing extremist groups and face harassment, or wear a
mask and face up to 15 years in jail?
On the other hand, this bill allows Law Enforcement Officers to attend protests or walk their beat while wearing a mask, but
ordinary citizens could face a decade and a half for doing the same.
Decoding H.R. 6054 (The “Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018”) – updated August 2018
This bill will not only levy greater criminal penalties for anti-fascist protestors, but will make anti-fascist protestors more
identifiable to alt-right groups, leading to targeted harassment and violence against those identified.
https://www.nlg.org/new-resource-fact-sheet-on-unmasking-antifa-act/
Not sure if this was passed but it should have been.