{"id":162135,"date":"2026-02-03T17:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162135\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T17:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T17:01:07","slug":"fresno-la-officials-warn-mask-law-enforcement-could-trigger-armed-conflicts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162135\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno, LA Officials Warn Mask Law Enforcement Could Trigger Armed Conflicts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer<\/a> said the Fresno Police Department will follow state law banning law enforcement officers from wearing masks<\/a>, but warned that forcing local officers to confront federal agents could create dangerous situations between armed agencies.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell made similar comments at a press conference this week, saying that having two armed agencies facing off, especially over a misdemeanor or an infraction, \u201cdoesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

McDonnell also said that the state\u2019s federal mask law is not good policy and was not well thought out, according to ABC7<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dyer emphasized that Fresno police \u201cwill follow state law regarding the wearing of masks<\/a>,\u201d while noting that the law includes exceptions. He added that requiring local officers to arrest federal agents could lead to volatile encounters between armed personnel.<\/p>\n

Gov. Newsom to Face off With Trump in Court<\/p>\n

The issue centers on California Senate Bill 627<\/a>, signed into law in September 2025, which makes it a misdemeanor for law enforcement officers \u2014 including federal agents \u2014 to wear facial coverings while performing their duties, with limited exemptions.<\/p>\n

The law also requires agencies to maintain and publicly post facial covering policies by July 2026. Violations can carry civil penalties, particularly in cases involving false imprisonment or unlawful arrests committed while masked.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s office did not directly address the comments made by Fresno officials.<\/p>\n

However, Newsom\u2019s Deputy Director of Communications, Diana Crofts-Pelayo, said in a statement to GV Wire: \u201cThe federal government has sued to stop the state from enforcing this law. We are defending the law in court which would go in effect on July 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Nov. 17, 2025, the Trump administration sued to block the law, citing an 1890 U.S. Supreme Court case that governs whether a state can prosecute federal law enforcement officers who are performing their duties.<\/p>\n

That ruling, In re Neagle, has long provided strong legal protection for federal agents. However, it also left room for state prosecutors to bring charges if federal officers act outside what is considered \u201cnecessary and proper\u201d while carrying out their duties.<\/p>\n

You can learn more about this issue at this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2014<\/p>\n

Connect with\u00a0\u00a0on social media. Got a tip? Send an\u00a0.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said the Fresno Police Department will follow state law banning law enforcement officers from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-162135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}