NYC Mayor Wants to Ban Masks in the Wake of Shooting Death of CEO Brian Thompson

A look at how the shooting death of Brian Thompson is being used to re-ignite interest in banning masks in New York City - a move which would be a devastating blow to the disabled community.

On December 4th - news broke that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson had been fatally shot outside of his NYC hotel. The suspect was seen on video footage wearing what appeared to be a neck gaitor - and has now been arrested and identified as Luigi Mangione.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference - where he stated the following (as per Emma Fitzsimmons for the New York Times):

Mayor Eric Adams says at his news conference that he thinks people wearing masks should pull them down and show their faces when entering shops or taxis, and that such a policy would have helped the police make an arrest sooner. He also reiterated his support for a ban on masks.

This isn’t the first time Mayor Adams has publicly stated support for mask bans. Two days after the Nassau County mask ban went into effect - Eric Adams said he wants to ban masks because:

‘when you can’t see someone’s face - someone’s eyes - it takes a long time to bring them to justice.’

Setting aside the fact that masks don’t block one’s ability to see another person’s eyes - this idea that masks are driving criminal activity is incredibly harmful to disabled and high risk individuals who NEED to mask for their health. It promotes the spread of disease - and discourages people who are still Covid cautious from masking.

There’s also no evidence to suggest it stops crime - and studies have shown that sunglasses obscure identity more effectively, yet no one is trying to ban them.

It’s worth noting that the mask Luigi was wearing appears to be a neck gaitor and NOT an N95 or medical mask, which are the masks we wear to stop the spread of Covid.

Image Description: A photo from Crime Stoppers of a man wearing a coat with a hood, backpack and a face covering.

Disabled activists have been screaming about the dangers of mask bans since the great unmasking occurred. We warned people that if they stopped masking - if they refused to assist us in normalizing masks as a public health tool - we would end up with mask bans. We were right.

When bans were enacted in North Carolina disability advocates again begged the public to pay attention and mask back up - no one listened. Invariably we are dismissed because people say there are medical exemptions. They shout that no one will be arrested for masking for health reasons.

They have no reason to believe this - but it seems to be the overwhelming narrative in the public sphere.

The media’s reporting of Luigi Mangione’s arrest is fuelling the narrative that masking is somehow ‘bad’. Many articles reference that he had ‘guns, ammo and a box of masks’ in his backpack.

How have we ended up in a place where a box of masks - during a pandemic - is considered as relevant a finding as a gun?

It took less than 24 hours for the NYC Mayor to resurrect interest in a citywide mask ban - yet no one mentioned banning guns. Masks are being scapegoated - it’s blatant fearmongering in an attempt to push through a ban that Mayor Adams has wanted for months - despite the fact that it will cause tremendous harm to people who live in NYC.

I can’t believe this needs to be said - but masks don’t kill people. Guns do. Masks are a personal protective tool. They can’t harm anyone.

The U.S. has a terrible problem with gun violence. Yet whenever a mass shooting occurs and someone suggests tighter gun control - gun lobbyists scream about their right to carry and “freedom” to protect themselves.

How far we’ve fallen that people are more concerned with banning masks than guns.

Masks bans won’t stop crimes. All they will do is fuel hateful anti-mask rhetoric and make public spaces even less safe for disabled and high risk individuals.

If the “freedom” to protect oneself is truly of paramount importance - the right to wear a mask needs to be preserved. Wearing a respirator is protecting yourself from Covid (and other harmful viruses) and that right should NOT be taken away.

What I Want You to Know About Mask Bans

• They are not specific to wearing a mask during the commission of a crime. The bans I’m discussing in this article make the act of WEARING a mask in a public space illegal. The mask IS the crime

• Medical exemptions don’t protect us the way you think they do

• The police are NOT medical professionals. They aren’t trained to determine who is or isn’t ‘sick enough’ to wear a mask

• ‘Just challenge it in court’ is not an option for most disabled people. We lack the funds and the energy for a lengthy court battle - and the stress of being arrested and charged will lead to a deterioration in our health and a likely Covid infection

• There has already been one legal challenge - brought against Nassau County on behalf of two disabled residents - and it was dismissed. The judge said the mask exemptions were ‘good enough’ even though the disabled residents explained that the ban itself was discriminatory

There’s a Medical Exemption - Why Are You Worried?

First off - the Covid pandemic is not over. The World Health Organization have made it clear we are still IN a pandemic . It’s only various states of emergencies which have ended.

In fact - Dr Tedros (the WHO Director) spoke to the media yesterday about the upcoming five year anniversary of the Covid pandemic. He said:

In the past five years, more than 7 million deaths from COVID-19 have been reported to WHO, but we estimate the true death toll to be at least three times higher.

We cannot talk about COVID in the past tense. It’s still with us, it still causes acute disease and “long COVID”, and it still kills.

On average this year, about 1000 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported to WHO each week – and that’s just from the few countries that are still reporting.

The world might want to forget about COVID-19, but we cannot afford to.

The virus is airborne and still killing and disabling millions of people. A good mask is your best protection against both catching and spreading this virus. They’re a public health tool and an accessibility accommodation - and should never be banned.

Masks were made political due to COVID restrictions - with people screaming that they’re a sign of government oppression, violation of bodily autonomy and labelling those who wear them “sheep”.

Despite the hatred towards maskers - many of us still wear them and rely on them to keep us safe.

A well fitted respirator like an N95 or P100 provides excellent protection against Covid - and despite what mask ban proponents will tell you - doesn’t do much to obscure identity. It’s the height of absurdity to suggest that if someone was going to commit a serious crime - they would reconsider because they can’t wear a respirator while doing it.

When the subject of bans first came up - it was in North Carolina - they were attempting to reinstate an old law without the exemption for medical masks. At the Senate hearing an opposing senator pointed out how dangerous these bans would be for disabled people. No one cared.

I naively assumed that the same people who screamed about personal freedom and bodily autonomy would oppose these bans. After all - telling someone they’re not allowed to use a medical device is a clear violation of autonomy and freedom. Force infecting someone with COVID? Same.

Of course I was wrong. They celebrated these bans.

People were cheering for them and saying they can’t wait to “rip the masks off our faces”. Many believed it was a deserved “punishment” for mask mandates - as though disabled people were directly responsible for Covid policies.

The overwhelming hatred towards our community was painful to witness - it was obvious people were not going to fight for our right to mask.

I wrote about this in May - explaining that we were witnessing a rise in eugenics, discrimination and ableism that would no doubt spread if allowed to pass.

We Are Witnessing Real Time Eugenics... and People Don't Seem to Care.

In June the North Carolina ban passed - albeit with a very narrow and problematic medical exemption added back in. The ‘exemption’ allows medical masks for the purpose of “avoiding spreading a communicable disease”. Whether you can mask to avoid catching a disease - or to protect yourself from pollen or wildfire smoke - remains a legal grey area.

Who makes the determination with respect to whether YOU are masking for legal reasons? The police. As you can imagine, this is incredibly scary for people - especially those who are marginalized. These bans give police an excuse to stop, search and potentially arrest someone who’s doing nothing more than trying to safeguard their health.

Soon after the North Carolina ban passed - we heard of a woman with stage four cancer who was harassed in a store because she wouldn’t remove her mask. Another patron yelled at her that she was a “liberal” and demanded she take it off. When she explained she had cancer - he coughed on her.

This is where mask bans lead. To harassment, discrimination and attacks on disabled people. Intentionally coughing on someone IS assault - and it’s particularly egregious when you know that person is sick and immunocompromised.

While I don’t believe charges were laid in that particular case - what is alarming in North Carolina is that the language of their mask ban bill makes it so the woman with cancer might have faced arrest.

The bill states that “any occupant of a public space” can demand you remove your mask. If you refuse and someone calls the police - will you be charged? Another legal grey area.

Fast forward to August - and Nassau County instituted a mask ban of their own. Punishable with fines up to $1000 and/or jail time.

There’s no official medical exemption there - but rather it will be left to police “discretion” to determine who is medically justified in wearing a mask. For more on what this means for disabled people living in Nassau County - check out the NYCLU’s post on mask bans here.

Many of us have invisible illnesses - we have a hard time getting doctors to take us seriously. Yet they want us to roll the dice with police? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to the hospital or a doctor only to be told ‘you don’t look that sick.’

There’s also the fact that some disabilities can make us appear nervous - thus increasing the likelihood that we may be stopped by law enforcement for masking. I suffer from Dysautonomia - which causes sweating, shaking, high heart rate, uneven pupil dilation and other symptoms strongly associated with fear or ‘nerves.’

These symptoms are worse anytime I’m upright - so if I’m in public wearing a mask and an officer stops me - I will exhibit all the physical traits they’re trained to look for to assess ‘suspicious behaviour.’ I could tell them I suffer from Dysautonomia - but given at least HALF the medical professionals I’ve seen since being diagnosed haven’t known what it is - I don’t have high hopes that a police officer will know. Nor do I think it’s fair that we be forced to disclose confidential medical information just to avoid potential arrest.

Medical exemptions also tend to overlook those who aren’t disabled but may have valid reasons for needing to wear a respirator. Anyone caring for me wears an N95 in public to avoid getting Covid and bringing it home to me. They might not qualify under a medical exemption because they aren’t disabled or high risk.

What about those who understand the Precautionary Principle? Many people are Covid Cautious not because they’re “high risk” - but because they understand this is a serious multi-system virus with long term health ramifications. They’re masking to STAY healthy - and they should have the legal right to do so. In fact - we should be encouraging more people to mask up proactively - because the more people masking the less virus spread we will have.

Image Description: A graphic that has black text saying “I (image of a respirator) NY’. The graphic emulates the classic “I Heart NY” logo. Further text reads ‘Stop NY Mask Ban Action Toolkit: CovidAdvocacyNy.org #NoNYMaskBan. Image Courtesy of Covid Advocacy New York

Where Do We Go From Here?

First - we need to acknowledge that this is a high profile case that has grabbed the attention of the entire world. As such it’s a perfect excuse to try and push through a mask ban agenda.

New York City is densely populated - masks are needed there due to lack of personal space. It’s crowded, most people rely on public transit and it was hit incredibly hard during the first wave of Covid. Many New Yorkers are still masking because they remember the death and devastation that ripped through their city in March 2020. There were so many deaths in such a short time that FEMA had to send refrigerated trucks to NYC to store all the bodies.

NYC is a left-leaning city that is nestled within a predominantly blue state - if mask bans succeed there it will make it easier for them to spread throughout the United States.

We would be foolish to ignore the fact that the incoming Trump/Vance administration are anti-public health - and Vance spearheaded a federal ban on mask mandates. It’s not a stretch to imagine they would institute a federal mask ban.

Disability advocates are begging you to be pay attention. To take these bans more seriously. To recognize that this isn’t about public health or preventing crime - it’s about making it easier to surveil the general public and propagating the false notion that Covid is over.

It’s naive to think politicians and lawmakers won’t use this tragic event to push forward mask bans - which are guaranteed to lead to death and disability from Covid. They will cause an increase in profiling and arrests of marginalized individuals. Politicians will say these bans make us safer - when we know they do the exact opposite.

They are another step in escalating fascism. Wild government overreach that represents a violation of our bodily autonomy and right to to protect our health. Everyone should be angry about that.

Yet no one helps us. Most people see this as an issue impacting the fringe minority - those ‘vulnerable people’ that we stopped caring about when we rushed back to normal in 2021.

I’m here to tell you we are not a fringe minority. We’re here, we’re getting louder and our numbers are growing everyday. 400 million people have been disabled by Long Covid - they are ALL ‘the vulnerable’. We matter and don’t deserve to be cast aside any longer.

If you stopped masking - this is a perfect time to start again. If you can’t afford a good quality respirator - look for a local mask bloc. They will help you. Even if you think Covid isn’t a threat to your health - we need you to mask in solidarity with all the people for whom it IS a serious threat.

The more people who are masking - the harder masks will be to ban. If we normalize them as a public health tool - we can stop unfairly profiling maskers as criminals - because it’s yet another stigma that puts us in danger.

You can also check out advocacy organizations that are fighting these bans. Covid Advocacy New York have a toolkit to help you express your opposition to bans.

Mask up. Speak up. Resist. We can do this together.

Are you concerned about mask bans? Will they impact your ability to wear a mask and/or exist safely in public? Please leave a comment and tell me how these bans will personally impact you. The more of us sharing our stories - the easier it will be to show others WHY this is such an important issue for our community.