Louisville Metro Council to vote Thursday on proposal to prohibit law enforcement agents from wearing masks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Louisville Metro Council members are meeting Thursday night to discuss and vote on an amendment to the city’s current mask ordinance.

Louisville’s mask ordinance prohibits people from wearing full face coverings in person, saying it allows those who commit a crime to hide their identities. Now, a proposal filed by District 6 councilmember JP Lyninger states local, state, and federal law enforcement agents shouldn’t be allowed to wear masks either.

The legislation filed by Lyninger says officers are expected to operate in the public interest and be identifiable.

“Sometimes our code enforcement officers go to people’s homes, to businesses,” Lyninger pointed out. “You’ve got these thousands of dollars of fines. People get very angry at our code enforcement officers, but they don’t go around hiding their identity. They don’t go around hiding their faces. It reduces public trust. It makes us less safe.”

Councilman Lyninger said he came up with the proposal after hearing from his constituents, who he said are worried after seeing increased immigration enforcement by ICE across the country.

“They’re terrified, just like people are nationwide, seeing masked law enforcement, ICE agents in the middle of immigration raids concealing their identity, wearing plain clothes, taking people to unmarked cars,” he mentioned. “It makes people feel unsafe. It makes people feel like they cannot trust public safety, questioning whether someone is legitimate, whether they’re actually police or not when they’re detaining them. It’s scary.”

The amendment wouldn’t impact undercover work and also numbers several exceptions, including age, health, and religious reasons.

However, it faces tough opposition, particularly from Metro Council republicans, like Ginny Mulvey-Woolridge.

“We haven’t had any incidents locally,” she pointed out. “And so, we are trying to solve something that is a federal mandate that we can’t mandate. We have no authority to do that.”

Councilwoman Mulvey-Woolridge told WAVE News her biggest concern with the amendment is the potential for doxing, pointing out officers’ names are already displayed on their uniforms.

“If they’re not masked, it’s coming out as retaliation,” she added. “So, pictures of them, pictures of their families, their home addresses are being put on social media and on news channels, and that’s doxing. That’s our issue that we need to fix.”

Lyninger said he’s not concerned about that, given that doxing is already illegal in Kentucky.

“If people are going to break the law, they’re going to break the law,” he said.

Those who oppose the amendment also cite the enforcement aspect of it, with Councilwoman Mulvey-Woolridge saying it’s not possible to enforce a mask ban on state and federal officers. But Councilman Lyninger disagrees.

“Just like they can’t come to Louisville and commit arson, just like they can’t come to Louisville and drive drunk, they cannot break laws that apply to everyone,” he stated.

14 councilmembers, or 50% of Metro Council, would need to vote in favor of this proposal for it to go on to Mayor Craig Greenberg’s desk.

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