History is filled with examples of autocratic regimes’ using masked secret police, and the United States government is going to court to assert its right to join them.
Yesterday (10/1/26) the Justice Department sued Maryland over a new state law that says law enforcement officers, including federal agents, generally cannot hide their faces while doing their jobs. Justice sued the same day the law took effect.
Maryland now requires officers operating in the state to show their faces and wear identification, with exceptions for undercover work, medical protection, tactical operations and circumstances where masking is necessary for officer safety.
In its suit, the Justice Department says Maryland has no authority to impose those requirements on federal agents. It says agents need masks because people photograph them, identify them online, dox them and threaten them and their families.
During the 2019 democracy protests in Hong Kong and the crackdown that followed, police officers and their families also faced doxxing and threats and authorities sought legal protection for officers’ identities. At the same time Hong Kong also banned protesters from wearing masks. The government said masks allowed protesters to conceal their identities, evade identification and commit crimes with greater impunity.
The Trump administration has taken a similar position on masked protesters.
During the Los Angeles immigration protests in June 2025, President Trump wrote: “MASKS WILL NOT BE ALLOWED to be worn at protests. What do these people have to hide, and why???”
Three months later, an executive order targeting so-called Antifa cited efforts to “shield the identities of its operatives” as a means of frustrating law enforcement.
Now the Justice Department is in court defending the ability of federal agents to hide their own faces.
History is filled with examples of autocratic regimes’ using masked secret police, and the United States government is going to court to assert its right to join them.
