DENVER — Two Denver City council members say they're "exploring new territory" by looking into the possibility of prohibiting federal law enforcement members from wearing face coverings during enforcement operation in Denver.
"What we cannot do is do nothing," said Council member Flor Alvidrez, who represents District 7 in southwest Denver.
Council member Alvidrez and council member Shontel M. Lewis are planning to begin the conversation, presenting the proposal first to the city's Budget & Policy Committee on Monday.
In the presentation, council women Alvidrez and Lewis say the problem with federal agents using facial coverings is that it "erodes public trust", and "makes it difficult for residents to verify authority and increases fear and confusion while allowing for 'imposters' to pretend to be enforcement."
They believe the solution lies in "establishing a clear minimum standard for visible identification during enforcement in Denver," and "prohibiting law enforcement from wearing a facial covering while detaining, arresting or otherwise restraining the physical movement of an individual."
"We're exploring new territory," council woman Alvidrez told Denver7's Veronica Acosta. "If everyone around the country is willing to go change laws or ignore laws or try new things, we have to do the same."
The two Denver leaders told Denver7 they decided to begin the process on this proposal after hearing from their constituents.
"That's really where this came from, was being responsive to communities," council woman Lewis said.
"They have no control over what the federal government does"
Denver7 spoke with Jon Caldara, the president of the Independence Institute, who said that while he agrees federal agents should not wear face coverings, he doesn't believe local leaders can do anything about it.
"They have no control over what the federal government does," Caldara said. "They have control over what their government does, the City and County of Denver, and they should focus on that and not pick a fight with the federal government."
Denver7 reached out to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which provided the following statement:
Sanctuary politicians attempting to ban our federal law enforcement from wearing masks is despicable and a flagrant attempt to endanger our officers. To be crystal clear: we will not abide by a city council’s unconstitutional ban.
Our officer wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers. Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.
The men and women at CBP, ICE, and all of our federal law enforcement agencies put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens. Make no mistake, this type of demonization is contributing to the surge in assaults of law enforcement officers.
