Police in Georgia cited a state law created to combat the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) to arrest counterprotesters at a neo-Nazi rally over the weekend, The Washington Post reported.
The Anti-Mask Act was used against members of the KKK, who wore white hoods to conceal their identities, to try and disrupt their public events in the second half of the 20th century, the Post noted.
{mosads}However, police have since begun to use the law against counterprotesters who cover their faces with masks or bandanas, including during a neo-Nazi rally in Newnan, Ga., on Saturday, it added.
Hundreds of counterprotesters attended the event, far outnumbering the few dozen people gathered to mark Adolf Hitler’s birthday.
“State law requires you to remove your masks right now. You will do it right now or you will be arrested,” one SWAT officer was filmed telling the crowd. Several counterprotesters were then arrested, according to newspaper.
At least 10 counterprotesters were arrested at the rally, some for wearing the masks and others for obstructing a roadway.
One of the people arrested, Jeremy Ortega, said that he and others were trying to conceal their faces to avoid being targeted by white supremacist groups.
He told the Newnan Times-Herald that he’s considering suing the police.
“They were trying to stop us, and we were trying to dial down the racist stuff,” Ortega said. “We were peacefully protesting, yet they put guns in our faces and told us to take our masks off. It made no sense.”