Nassau County officials Wednesday seized on the arrest of a man they say was wearing a mask in public, using it as a chance justify their new ban on face coverings — even though he wasn’t charged with violating that law. And they took it as an opportunity to criticize state and national policymakers on everything from bail reform to immigration policy.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, held a news conference three days after county police arrested Hicksville resident Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, 18, whom police said was wearing a ski mask while walking in a suburban neighborhood on Sunday evening. Police said they later found a 14-inch knife concealed in his waistband.
Despite the police department’s initial public statements that Ramirez Castillo was arrested for violating a new local law banning the public wearing of face coverings, according to court documents, he has not been charged with that. He was arraigned on Monday and pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor charges of criminal possession of a weapon and resisting arrest.
The arrest and potential prosecution of Ramirez Castillo could steer public dialogue over what’s become a tense debate over whether people in public, including protesters, have the right to conceal their identities. Nassau’s law was aimed at what Blakeman said were antisemitic attacks, but critics say it will be used by police as a pretext to target people of color. The law makes exceptions for religious and health reasons, but generally bars groups from wearing masks in public, regardless of criminal activity, and gives police broad authority to stop people who are covering their faces.
County officials on Wednesday credited the new law for prompting an unidentified resident to call 911.
“The fact that he was wearing the mask is what gave that caller the suspicion to call us,” Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said.
Blakeman took the opportunity to launch into further, and now well-worn, critiques of state and national policies he has said undermine public safety.
“Cashless bail, the migrants,” he said. “The fact that [Immigration and Custom Enforcement] now can’t hold these illegal immigrants, the fact that people wear masks to hide their identity, commit crimes, engage in acts of hate.”
“This is what the result is,” he said, gesturing to the knife Ramirez Castillo is accused of possessing, which was brought on stage and displayed to the media.
During the press conference, Ryder said Ramirez Castillo entered the country illegally but said he did not know his exact residency status. Ryder also said police’s probable cause for the arrest was observing a “bulge” in Ramirez Castillo’s waistband — not the ski mask he was allegedly wearing.
Attorneys representing Ramirez Castillo called the county’s mask ban unconstitutional and questioned whether the case would progress in court.
“It appears in our view that the police lack any constitutional basis to stop and detain Mr. Castillo for wearing a face mask under New York law,” said Scott Banks, chief attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County.
Gov. Kathy Hocul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams have also called for bans on face coverings in some circumstances. Adams has said he supports banning masks on the subway, but he has not proposed any legislation on masks worn at protests or for non-health-related purposes. Hochul has said she wants penalties enhanced for crimes committed while a perpetrator is wearing a mask.
Beth Haroules, senior staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said Blakeman’s trumpeting of Ramirez Castillo’s arrest was “silly” and that she worried how it will be used to stymie free speech.
“Nassau County’s mask ban is ripe for selective enforcement by a police department with a history of aggression and discrimination,” she said.