Noticeably absent from this discussion: Anti-mask laws as a method to combat terrorism from the Ku Klux Klan. Presumably no one is talking about it because it complicates the simple protestors-good/government-bad story.<p>> Many anti-mask laws date back to the mid-20th century when states and municipalities, passed them to stop the violent activities of the Ku Klux Klan, whose members typically wore hoods of white linen to conceal their identities....<p>> A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a New York law on the ground that wearing a Ku Klux Klan mask did not convey a protected message beyond that conveyed by wearing a hood and robe.[2] Other courts have struck down anti-mask laws. For example, Tennessee and Florida state laws have been invalidated on the grounds that they were unconstitutionally broad.[10] An ordinance in Goshen, Indiana, was struck down based on First Amendment doctrine that specifically protects anonymous speech and anonymous association, especially for unpopular groups like the KKK.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-mask_law" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-mask_law</a><p>> In 1845 New York made it illegal to appear “disguised and armed.” Most anti-mask laws [in the US] were passed, however, in response to the Ku Klux Klan, whose members used masks to hide their identities as they terrorized their victims.<p><a href="https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1169/anti-mask-laws" rel="nofollow">https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1169/anti-mask-...</a><p>> In the United States, anti-mask laws were first passed in the 19th century to combat various threats of violence—among them, the killing of Hudson Valley landlords by tenant farmers who dressed up as American Indians, and also the growing violence of the Ku Klux Klan.<p><a href="http://jtl.columbia.edu/the-inexorable-anti-mask-movement/" rel="nofollow">http://jtl.columbia.edu/the-inexorable-anti-mask-movement/</a><p>Here's a serious analysis of how one might tailor an anti-mask law while avoiding the most serious free-speech issues, at least in the narrow sense of passing constitutional muster in the US.<p><a href="https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3009&context=flr" rel="nofollow">https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=30...</a>