Ohio AG defends letter warning 'woke' masked anti-Israel protesters they face prison time: 'We have a society'

Ohio’s Republican Attorney General is pushing backmost against critics aft informing that anti-Israel protesters wearing masks are facing imaginable situation clip owed to authorities instrumentality and XXX

"The First Amendment protects you and saying immoderate it is you person to say. Even hateful things are protected by the First Amendment," Ohio AG Dave Yost told Fox News Digital this week. "The First Amendment, though, was ever designed to beryllium a shield against the government. It's not a sword against your chap students and they person rights too. Your First Amendment rights are constricted by their close to beryllium capable to spell to school, usage the library, get the worth of their acquisition and the tuition that they paid for."

In a letter sent connected Monday, Yost warned assemblage presidents of a historical authorities instrumentality that could mean masked anti-Israel demonstrators connected assemblage campuses could look felony charges. 

"The instrumentality is an aged law," Yost told Fox News Digital. "It goes backmost to the 20th century, and it was primitively designed to marque definite that radical similar Ku Klux Klan were held accountable, that, of course, the crushed that the Ku Klux Klan wore hoods and masks implicit their faces is truthful that they couldn't beryllium identified due to the fact that they were committing crimes. So the General Assembly successful Ohio said, okay, you tin deterioration a mask, you tin deterioration a hood, that's fine. But if you perpetrate a transgression with 2 oregon much different people, portion you are masking yourself, we're going to spot that arsenic a heightened benignant of crime, a worse benignant of thing, due to the fact that you're consciously doing this and trying to fell your individuality due to the fact that you cognize you're doing thing wrong."

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Anti-Israel protester, Ohio AG Dave Yost (Getty Images)

In his letter, Yost warned Ohio universities that "violation of this ‘anti-disguise’ instrumentality is simply a fourth-degree felony punishable by betwixt six and 18 months of imprisonment."

"Those blameworthy whitethorn besides wage up to $5,000 successful fines and walk up to 5 years connected assemblage control. (See Ohio Revised Code 3761.99.) This punishment is importantly greater than misdemeanors that typically travel insignificant infractions that travel pupil protests."

Students and extracurricular activists person routinely worn look coverings with immoderate blaming the coronavirus and others saying they are acrophobic of reprisals.

"They'll archer you that successful interviews," Yost said. "I've seen it connected galore reports, they're acrophobic of, punctuation unquote, reprisals. Well, reprisals from what? The assemblage administrations are each successful connected this woke, anti-Israel, pro-Palestine, rhetoric. They don't person to interest astir being thrown retired of schoolhouse for expressing their views. But reprisals from whom? Well, reprisals from the transgression justness authorities who enforce laws similar arson laws similar trespassing and that's precisely what this heightened scrutiny is each about."

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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks astatine the Conservative Political Action Coalition yearly gathering astatine Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center successful Maryland, United States connected March 04, 2023.  (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Yost’s letter, which helium told Fox News Digital was simply a reminder to those who mean to interruption the instrumentality that situation clip could travel on with that, sparked disapproval from immoderate connected the near including Ohio Democratic State Sen. Bill DeMora, who issued a property release denouncing Yost arsenic "disgusting" and a "pigheaded, blatant misread of the law."

"I anticipation that Dave Yost takes his missive and shoves it wherever the prima don’t shine!" DeMora wrote.

"I deliberation they protestation excessively much," Yost told Fox News Digital successful effect to the criticism. "All the missive does is say, hey, don't go an accidental felon. Ohio has a instrumentality present and incidentally it's not adjacent implicated unless you're committing a transgression act, different transgression enactment with 2 oregon much radical portion you're wearing a mask. I don't recognize however advising idiosyncratic astir however to beryllium a instrumentality abiding citizen, is intimidating oregon disgusting. I deliberation Bill DeMora protests excessively much, but past he's Democratic operative, a subordinate of the DNC Central Committee, and everything's a governmental crippled to him. We person a nine present that needs to tally according to the rules and to let state to everybody."

Yost told Fox News Digital helium has been reaching retired to the Jewish assemblage successful his authorities and precocious met with Israel’s lawman counsel to find ways to guarantee that Jewish radical are adequately protected.

"I americium acrophobic astir the degeneration of our quality to support each citizens. We request to support that close to protest. We request to support the rights of the different students who are not protesting but are really trying to survey and learn. We request to support the rights of the communities astir the universities. And, the nonaccomplishment to instrumentality firm, just enactment to enforce the laws that are designed to support each of america is truly concerning. It's portion of the lawlessness starting to expanse the onshore from things similar the borderline and nonaccomplishment to enforce that to the lawless acts of the Biden medication to usurp Congress and constitute laws by fiat."

If helium could accidental 1 happening to the anti-Israel protesters engaging successful unit portion wearing masks, Yost said that helium would punctual them that their heroes from the past didn’t fell their identities.

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A protester holds a motion during a march connected Columbia University field successful enactment of a protestation encampment supporting Palestinians. (REUTERS/David Dee Delgado)

"I'd archer them your heroes from the 1960s didn't deterioration masks," Yost said. 

"Martin Luther King Jr and John Lewis weren't successful masks erstwhile they walked successful Selma. Own your expression. Own the dictates of your conscience and don't interruption the law."