Federal agents must unmask, wear bodycams and identify themselves in Mankato
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The city of Mankato now prohibits law enforcement officers from concealing their faces under an ordinance the city council passed unanimously this week. The law also requires officers to identify themselves, to wear body cameras if available, and they must notify the city of Mankato of any law enforcement operations in advance.
The emergency ordinance that the Mankato City Council adopted affects all law enforcement, but council members say they created the ordinance directly in response to ICE enforcement activity in the area. The law went into effect immediately.
Failure to comply with the ordinance could result in a misdemeanor citation. But Mankato City Attorney Pat Whitmore acknowledged during this week’s council meeting that it’ll likely be difficult for local police officers to enforce the ordinance against federal agents who violate it. But she said the city does have the legal authority to do so.
“Just because they’re a federal officer doesn’t mean they can’t violate one of our city codes if it’s not in conflict with their federal duties,” Whitmore said. “We’re not telling them that they can’t execute that warrant. We’re telling them that they can’t have a face covering on.”
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Other cities in Minnesota have also adopted or are exploring similar laws. St. Paul recently passed an ordinance prohibiting law enforcement officers from wearing face masks. A Minnesota state lawmaker had also introduced a bill that would also prohibit federal agents from wearing masks while working in the state, allowing for exceptions for public health or safety.
In January, the state of Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, alleging that masked, armed federal agents are conducting unconstitutional raids and arrests. A California law prohibiting federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks was blocked by a federal judge earlier this month.
The judge issued a preliminary injunction against the state, ruling the law is discriminatory because it exempted state law enforcement officers. But the same judge let stand a measure requiring federal officers to visibly display identification. Before the city council vote, some residents spoke in favor of the ordinance. But others rebuked council members over the ordinance, calling it performative and doing too little, too late.
Mankato resident Ava Corey-Gruenes said during the public comment portion of the meeting that there’s a disconnect between city officials and the community at large.
“This is not about the government moving slowly,” Corey-Gruenes said. “This isn’t about activists making the wrong recommendations or making their recommendations in the wrong way, with the wrong tone … if the council wanted to protect the community, they could have listened to us ten months ago.”
Laurel Viera, another Mankato resident, said she was skeptical about the drawdown of federal agents in Minnesota, especially in areas beyond the Twin Cities, and suggested that the council consider making the ordinance permanent.
“In fact, agent numbers have increased substantially in rural areas, which brings me to the emergency ordinance, I think it should be considered to make [it] permanent,” Viera said. “At this time, the tactics are changing to be undercover, like dressing as a civilian, pretending to be utility workers, construction vests on dashboards, business placards on DHS vehicles. If we back down on the ordinance being permanent, that leaves room for it to happen again.”
Some residents have expressed fears that the emergency law invites retribution from the Trump administration, which could withhold federal funding from Mankato. But, the city council members said it wasn’t worth delaying a vote because of that potential.
“I think it’s an unfortunate risk,” said city council member Michael McLaughlin. “But I think if we use that as our metric, it’s essentially succumbing to tyranny at that point, because we're doing with what is within our legal means here at this point, and if somebody is going to try to hold retribution over that, I take issue with it.”
As an emergency ordinance, it will remain active until April 24. At that time, the city council can let it expire, or it can vote to extend the emergency ordinance, or it could revise the law and vote to make it permanent.
Mankato also agreed to join a coalition of cities around Minnesota that’ll communicate with each other and plan responses to federal activity. According to city manager Susan Arntz, Mankato would be the first city outside of the Twin Cities metro area to join that coalition.
