zlacker

>>jbegle+(OP)
In any other time, masked protesters might spark laws about facial coverings, so there's one silver lining about the current situation.

>>colech+Uu
I don't know, the masks may have increased police fear, or served to dehumanize the appearance of the protesters, and contributed to the use of tear gas and rubber bullets in one of the protests.

>>ineeda+mv
Cops were perfectly willing to use those methods pre-COVID.

>>ceejay+8x
Sure, but I'm talking about probabilities of using them: The chance of surveillance of protesters ticking over into fear, and the lack of visible human faces making it even less personal. My guess is that if every protest nationwide for any issue at all began always wearing masks, with no other change in behavior, use of force against them would increase.