A jogger runs by to the Thomas Mill Covered Bridge at Fairmount Park as snow falls, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2019, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Philadelphia City Council passed legislation to ban ski masks in some public spaces, a measure supporters say will increase public safety amid high violent crime, but opponents argue it will unfairly target people without proof of any wrongdoing.
The legislation passed on Thursday with a 13-2 vote, and now goes to Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney. A spokesperson said he would review the legislation and "looks forward to our ongoing work with City Council on the urgent matter of ensuring public safety.”
The measure would ban ski masks, or balaclavas, in public spaces like schools, recreation centers, parks, city-owned buildings and on public transportation. It defines the garment as a close-fitting covering over the whole head, with holes only for the eyes, nose, or mouth.
A $250 fine would be imposed against anyone who violates the law. It has exceptions for religious garb and protests.
The legislation comes as the nation’s sixth-largest city has been beleaguered by violent crime, tallying a record number of homicides in 2021, most of them gun-related. That number fell from 562 to 516 in 2022 but was still higher than pre-pandemic levels, and advocates have said they are on track to decrease further this year.
Big cities across the nation experienced spikes in crime as social supports were upended during the pandemic, though crime has started to decrease to pre-pandemic levels.
Philadelphia's move goes in the opposite direction to New York City, which relaxed a law that prohibited masks, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2020, New York City repealed a more than century-old law that prohibited face coverings in public. It was meant to permit mask-wearing during the coronavirus outbreak. Supporters of the repeal said the former law also exposed men of color to police harassment and was used against protesters during demonstrations.
Concerns about theft, even as crime decreases in the city, pushed Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, to suggest storeowners should refuse to admit anyone wearing a mask unless it was lowered to be picked up by store cameras.
Philadelphia’s ban cites an increase in those casually wearing ski masks in 2020 — during the beginning of the pandemic — alongside a rise in individuals sought by Philadelphia police. The ski masks conceal people’s identities, making it harder for the police to identify them, supporters say. Messages were left for the bill’s sponsor, Councilman Anthony Phillips.
But it drew sharp opposition from some progressive members of Council and the ACLU of Pennsylvania, which said there was no evidence to support that ski masks cause or encourage crime.
“Giving police the authority to stop civilians without suspicion of unlawful activity is unconstitutional,” Solomon Furious Worlds, an attorney for the ACLU, said in a statement.
The ban is part of a larger puzzle the Democrats are grappling with: balancing accountability after protests against police brutality, while trying to address community concerns about safety.
Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker won election with a tough-on-crime approach, vowing to put hundreds of officers on the street, embedded within communities.
She’s drawn criticism for her stance that officers should use “reasonable suspicion” to stop people — which opponents feel comes uncomfortably close to the controversial stop-and-frisk tactic. She recently tapped longtime police official Kevin Bethel as her police commissioner, saying he had the experience to restore order while holding police accountable.
David Daley, author of the book 'Unrigged: How Americans Are Battling Back to Save Democracy,' joins Cheddar News to discuss redistricting battles taking place across the U.S.
Andrew Cuomo is reportedly planning his comeback. According to the Wall Street Journal, the former New York governor and his aides are considering how to make his first public appearance since he abruptly resigned last August amid sexual harassment allegations. Jake Lahut, politics reporter for Insider, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss Cuomo's potential return to politics.
The pressure is on for UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson - after his closest aides handed in their resignations this week.
It comes after a report found that 16 parties had taken place at Downing Street while Covid lockdown protocols were in place in the region. Ari Aramesh, Attorney & National Security/Foreign Policy Analyst joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
President Biden has ordered about 3,000 U.S. troops to Eastern Europe as Russia refuses to back off its pressure on Ukraine. The deployments to Poland, Germany, and Romania are a show of support to NATO allies concerned about a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine. This is in addition to the 8,500 troops put on high alert. David Tafuri, former Obama campaign foreign policy advisor and former State Department official, joined Cheddar to discuss what this move means for U.S.-Russia relations.
After tennis player Peng Shuai made an explicit sexual assault allegation toward a former Chinese government official, she disappeared from the public eye. Her recent reappearance with the IOC alongside a Chinese Olympic committee official raised eyebrows and renewed concerns for her safety. Asian affairs expert Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," joined Wake Up With Cheddar to discuss Peng Shuai's retraction and the various human rights controversies swirling at the Beijing games. "It's clear that the IOC was working with Beijing to make sure that she did not express herself freely," Chang said. "So really this is the IOC being complicit in these mechanisms of control over Peng."
The opening ceremony of the 2022 winter Olympics has kicked off at the Beijing national stadium. 150,000 spectators are in attendance for the games inside the 'closed loop' system separating Olympic personnel from the public. Cheddar News spoke with Brian Cazenueve, Sports Illustrated contributor, to share the highlights you may have missed and much more.
The Biden Administration is set to revise federal rules to address potential security risks from foreign-owned apps, mainly Tiktok. This comes after the White House opted not to pursue a forced shutdown of the Chinese-owned video sharing platform. Under these new rules, federal oversight would be expanded to explicitly include apps that could be used by foreign adversaries to steal or otherwise obtain data. Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Craig Singleton, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Although this week's weather is predicted to be less severe than the 2021 storm, Texans are preparing for the worst - stocking up on supplies and emptying shelves in grocery stores, once again. Some Texans still have not recovered from last year's tragedy, and are heading into the next few weeks with anxiety for what's to come. Leslie Beyer, CEO of the Houston-based energy workforce & technology council, joins Cheddar News to discuss if the Texas grid will fail again.
Student loan debt continues to be a major concern for tens of millions of Americans who collectively owe about $1.7 trillion. Black college students often take on larger amounts of student debt in order to pay for a higher education. In turn, they are more likely to struggle post-graduation with repaying their debt, creating a racial wealth gap divide. Andre Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Institution joined All Hands to help break down the black student debt crisis.
