The alarming rise of US officers hiding behind masks: 'A police state'

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

The alarming rise of US officers hiding behind masks: ‘A police state’

Mike German, an ex-FBI agent, said immigration agents hiding their identities ‘highlights the illegitimacy of actions’

Sam Levin in Los Angeles
Wed 25 Jun 2025 13.00 BST
Last modified on Wed 25 Jun 2025 17.15 BST

Some wear balaclavas. Some wear neck gators, sunglasses and hats. Some wear masks and casual clothes.

Across the country, armed federal immigration officers have increasingly hidden their identities while carrying out immigration raids, arresting protesters and roughing up prominent Democratic critics.

It’s a trend that has sparked alarm among civil rights and law enforcement experts alike.

Mike German, a former FBI agent, said officers’ widespread use of masks was unprecedented in US law enforcement and a sign of a rapidly eroding democracy. “Masking symbolizes the drift of law enforcement away from democratic controls,” he said.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/25/immigration-officers-wearing-masks

[LT Barclay]

1. Then we should be able to wear them and not be required to display license plates.

[Tom Dyer]

2. The people who lost their minds

at the mere suggestion that they wear a mask so people wouldn’t die not that long ago.