By Jack Phillips
An acting U.S. attorney in California on Friday ordered federal authorities to ignore a new state law that bars law enforcement officers from wearing masks.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a measure into law that makes it a misdemeanor crime for state, local, and federal law enforcement officers to wear masks or face coverings. It goes into effect at the start of next year.
“Governor Newsom is confused about his role under the U.S. Constitution,” Bill Essayli, acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, wrote in a post on X. “He oversees California, not federal agencies. He should review the Supremacy Clause.”
Essayli added that the state’s “law to ‘unmask’ federal agents is unconstitutional, as the state lacks jurisdiction to interfere with federal law enforcement. I have directed federal agencies to disregard this state law and adhere to federal law and agency policies,” according to the post. Included in the post was a copy of the memorandum sent to federal agency heads.
His district encompasses Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California.
On Saturday, Newsom accused Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of using masks in immigration operations to hide themselves from accountability.
“No due process, no rights—no rights in a democracy where we have rights, immigrants have rights,” Newsom told reporters. “We have the right to stand up and push back, and that’s what we’re doing here today.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Monday that ICE agents use coverings for protection and that they have faced increasing threats and assaults against them since the Trump administration took over.
“At a time that ICE law enforcement faces a 1,000% increase in assaults and their family members are being doxxed and targeted, the sitting Governor of California signed unconstitutional legislation that strips law enforcement of protections in a disgusting, diabolical fundraising and PR stunt,” DHS said in an X post.
The agency repeated its message about ICE agents facing attacks in the wake of a shooting in Dallas on Wednesday that left one detainee dead and two others injured. Federal officials have said that the suspect in the case, Joshua Jahn, had indicated in a note that he wanted to cause terror for ICE agents and wrote “anti-ICE” on one of his unspent shell casings.
A spokesperson for DHS told The Epoch Times on Thursday that Homeland Security will increase security at its field offices across the United States in response to the fatal shooting.
Newsom alleged last week that concerns about doxing agents, or publishing their personal information online, are unfounded and unproven.
“There’s an assertion that somehow there is an exponential increase in assaults on officers, but they will not provide the data,” he said. “All they have provided is misinformation and misdirection.”
Since taking office, the Trump administration has said that it would launch a large-scale mass deportation effort targeting illegal immigrants. The Supreme Court earlier this month ruled to lift limits on ICE operations in Los Angeles, overturning a lower court order blocking federal officers from making immigration-related stops without reasonable suspicion.
The Epoch Times contacted Newsom’s office for comment after Essayli’s statement.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
