One year after a far-right group marched through downtown Ballston Spa, village officials have approved new limitations on parades. But advocates for civil liberties warn the measures go too far.
The new law prohibits masks that conceal an individual's entire face and gas masks during demonstrations or parades, but will allow hygiene masks that cover the nose and chin.
It comes just over a year after dozens of Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group, marched through the village and harassed a business owner.
“I told them to get out of my town and they turned out to be the Proud Boys. And I swore at them, they swore at me. They filmed me, they took pictures of me, they put it all over the internet and I got harassed for months and months and months,” said Jes Rich.
Jes Rich is the owner of Sage Wine and Spirits and an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community. She’s grateful village leadership took a stand.
“Look, people are going to do this whether we have codes or not, but this means we can at least hold them accountable for their intimidating and harassing behavior which we weren’t able to do before. I use my voice as I see fit and I think others should be able to do that too,” said Rich. “But, I think that when you feel like you need to get your point across by intimidating and harassing and doxing people, maybe you don’t have the strongest point, right?”
The new legislation comes just a week after Nassau County legislators passed the controversial Mask Transparency Act making the wearing of face coverings or masks to conceal one’s identity a misdemeanor. Those wearing face coverings for medical or religious reasons are exempt.
The New York Civil Liberties Union has opposed such local laws, saying they chill controversial speech, risk biased enforcement, and puts those with disabilities in danger.
NYCLU senior staff attorney Beth Haroules says such bans are designed to “suppress anonymous speech by people whose speech the government doesn’t want to hear.”
“In the ears of the beholder, right? What the Proud Boys say is hate speech to one hearer and not to others. What pro-Palestinian folks are saying, you know, is being cast as hate speech, it's being cast as anti-Semitism. I think that's what the First Amendment is all about, right—allowing unpopular speech to flourish so that there's a diversity of opinion,” said Haroules.
Republican Mayor Frank Rossi says Ballston Spa’s legislation is different since it allows hygiene masks and leaves room for the village board to allow masks for specific events like a Halloween parade.
"We draw a line here in terms of complete face coverings for the simple reason, you shouldn't be allowed to intimidate folks without having at least an identity or identifiable means in those situations. That’s not speech, intimidating people, that is illegal, honestly. And especially if it’s folks of a certain group,” said Rossi.
The law also comes as neighboring Saratoga Springs grapples with its own approach to demonstrations. A Saratoga Black Lives Matter leader was ticketed for failing to apply for a demonstration declaration for two rallies this year.
That came after an investigation by New York state Attorney General Letitia James found city officials had targeted Black Lives Matter demonstrators in 2020 and 2021.
The Democrat wrote to the city after the latest tickets, saying she was concerned it had “resumed its unconstitutional retaliation against protestors.”
Rossi says Ballston’s Spa’s new parade law is different.
“For us, it’s a safety necessity more than anything else. We just can’t have a situation like August 5th of last year again, otherwise we really risk somebody getting hurt. And were not just, again, talking about the community that lives there or the businesses, we’re talking about the people protesting as well. Their safety does matter as well in these situations. We would hope that they’d understand we want to help everybody remain safe in those situations,” said Rossi.
The law requires applications for any parade be submitted at least 15 days in advance and outline the length and approximate size of the procession.
Additionally, it does not ban picketing or demonstrations, and will not apply to funerals or weddings.
