Opinion column: The real meaning of those ICE masks, as blurted out in a WA hearing [View all]

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https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/northwest/the-real-meaning-of-those-ice-masks-as-blurted-out-in-a-wa-hearing/article_c8e8205b-95f2-5102-a048-cb8155949059.html

Opinion column: The real meaning of those ICE masks, as blurted out in a WA hearing

Danny Westneat from The Seattle Times Jan 28, 2026

Whatever one might feel about bombastic Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank, he is one of the few elected officials around liberal Puget Sound who embodies the true spirit of MAGA.

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“I don’t recognize your authority.”

That’s the real significance of the masks. They say: We aren’t beholden to you. Not to state officials, the public, or the basic workings of democracy. You can’t touch us. You don’t even know who we are.

You could hear this imperiousness in the statements put out by administration officials after the shooting last weekend in Minneapolis. In their telling, the victim Alex Pretti was an “assassin” bent on the murder or even “massacre” of federal law enforcement. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said this, as did the president’s Homeland Security advisor, Stephen Miller. The latter’s series of false tweets are outrageously still up on social media, continuing to smear the deceased.

There’s a direct through line from identity-concealing masks to such reality-inverting lies. They come from the same accountability-denying place. It’s no coincidence that days after the Minneapolis shooting, the public still had no idea who the federal agents are. Mask the agents, mask any public information, mask the truth.

… WA senate passed no mask law … more …