Nassau mask ban: Case dropped against first protester arrested under law

The criminal case has been dismissed against Nassau’s first protester to be charged under the county’s face-mask ban, a pro-Palestinian activist wearing a keffiyeh at a demonstration.

Xavier Roa, 26, of Bellmore, had been arrested Sept. 15 during a protest in Cedarhurst. Police at the time said they took him into custody after asking him if the covering, a symbol of Palestinian culture and nationalism, was for the exempted purpose of a medical or religious reason, and he said it was worn “in solidarity for the Palestinian movement.”

The dismissal was confirmed in an email from Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for the Nassau County district attorney, Anne Donnelly. "The case was investigated extensively and upon conclusion NCDA determined that the allegations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and moved to dismiss the charges,” Turso said. She did not elaborate.

Roa was charged under the Nassau Mask Transparency Act, which makes it a misdemeanor to cover one’s face in public except for religious or medical purposes. The maximum penalty is a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Det. Lt. Scott Skrynecki, a Nassau police spokesman, declined to comment.

Geoffrey Stewart, Roa’s lawyer, said the case was dismissed Friday and that he would have challenged the law on constitutional grounds, among others, had it gone to trial. Exempting just religious and medical reasons for masking is insufficient, he said.

"If it got to that, we would have argued that you also have to protect people's political expression. Sometime people's clothing can be part of that expression," he said.

Stewart, whose practice is in Manhattan, said his client wasn't seeking to obscure his identity, noting that his face was covered just for a moment, and the police could see him for the majority of the demonstration.

The protest was on a Sunday across from the Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst synagogue where, demonstrators said, there was an auction inside to sell Palestinian land.

The law was passed in August by County Executive Bruce Blakeman and approved by the Republican-controlled legislature on the grounds that it would curb those who intimidate others, or commit acts of violence or harassment, from avoiding accountability. The law is opposed by civil rights groups, which call it unconstitutional, as well as advocates for disability rights, public health experts and others.

There have been additional arrests under the Nassau law; the details of those cases were not immediately available.

Blakeman did not immediately comment on the dismissal.

Protesters wear the keffiyeh for a number of reasons in addition to solidarity, including to shield their identities from those who seek to find out who they are and harass them online. Opponents of the wearing of the keffiyeh liken it to wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood in public.

By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.