Lawyer for keffiyeh-wearing, pro-Palestinian protester questions arrest under local face mask ban

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — A lawyer for a pro-Palestinian protester charged with violating a New York county’s face mask ban for wearing a keffiyeh scarf questioned Wednesday whether his client’s arrest was justified.

Xavier Roa was merely exercising his constitutionally protected free speech rights as he led others in protest chants last month outside Young Israel of Lawrence-Cedarhurst, an orthodox synagogue near the New York City borough of Queens, attorney Geoffrey Stewart said following Roa’s arraignment in Nassau County District Court in Hempstead.

Stewart said the county’s Mask Transparency Act, which was signed into law in August, bans mask wearing if police have reasonable suspicion to believe the person was involved in criminal activity or intends to “intimidate, threaten, abuse, or harass” anyone.

He questioned whether Roa had been attempting to conceal his identity, as police claim. Stewart noted his client had the Arab scarf draped around his neck and only pulled it over his face shortly before his arrest, meaning he was readily identifiable to officers for much of the demonstration.

Videosshared on social mediashow Roa wearing the keffiyeh around his neck as he’s led away by officers in handcuffs.

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“By all accounts, he complied and acted respectfully to officers,” Stewart added.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment Wednesday.

Nassau County police, in their complaint filed in court, said Roa acknowledged to officers at the time that he was wearing the scarf in solidarity with Palestinians and not for medical or religious purposes, which are the main exceptions to the new ban.

The 26-year-old North Bellmore resident is due back in court Oct. 17 and faces up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge.

County lawmakers have said they enacted the ban in response to antisemitic incidents since the Oct. 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Roa is the first protester among the handful so far arrested in connection with the new law, which has raised concerns from civil rights groups.

A federal judge last week dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming the ban was unconstitutional and discriminated against people with disabilities. In the ruling, U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack noted the ban exempts people who wear masks for health reasons.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.