Overview
- Harrell’s ordinance would prohibit face coverings that obscure identity, with exemptions for medical masks and respirators, and would mandate visible agency emblems and badges during enforcement.
- Violations would carry a $5,000 civil penalty enforced by the Seattle Office for Civil Rights under a civil process, not a criminal one.
- The Seattle Police Department is drafting guidance for responses to reports of masked or unidentified individuals, and Chief Shon Barnes pledged officers will respond with faces uncovered and badges displayed.
- ICE defends limited mask use as protection against doxxing and notes its officers carry credentials and will identify themselves when required.
- Legal observers warn the measure could be challenged under the Supremacy Clause, and the city is separately drafting a ban on federal immigration staging on city-owned property.