(The Center Square) – Students arrested during protests at Ohio colleges and universities and wearing masks could see misdemeanor charges turned into felonies, according to Attorney General Dave Yost.
Yost wrote university presidents, warning Ohio law makes it a felony to a commit a crime – even a misdemeanor, such as trespassing – with two or more other people while wearing a mask.
“In our society, there are few significant career-wreckers than a felony charge,” Yost wrote. “I write to you today to inform your student bodies of an Ohio law that, in the context of some behavior during the recent pro-Palestinian protests, could have that effect.”
The law went into effect in 1953 and was aimed at the Ku Klux Klan.
According to news reports, at least 40 people were arrested at Ohio State during protests in April, all being charged with criminal trespassing.
Many of the protestors on several Ohio campuses have worn masks, either black-and-white-checkered masks or medical face masks.
A violation of the state’s anti-disguise law is a fourth-degree felony punishable by between six and 18 months in jail, up to $5,000 in fines and five years of community control.
“I do not wish to wish to see anyone’s First Amendment rights abridged, nor see anyone surprised that they violated the law,” Yost wrote. “The First Amendment is a shield against the government, not a sword against fellow students. In the first place, students should protest within the bounds of the law and not commit crimes. In the second place, they should own their advocacy and avoid wearing masks.”
State Sen. Bill DeMora, D-Columbus, on Tuesday called Yost’s letter a threat to students exercising their First Amendment right.
“It is disgusting that the attorney general is trying to intimidate students into believing that they could be charged with a felony, citing a law that was specifically written to go after the KKK,” DeMora said. “His thinly-veiled efforts to encourage law enforcement to charge student activists with felonies is a pigheaded, blatant misread of the law. I hope that Dave Yost takes his letter and shoves it where the sun don’t shine!”
