Today, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the City and County of Denver, Mayor Michael C. Johnston, City Attorney Michiko Ando Brown, and Police Chief Ronald Thomas, challenging their unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal law enforcement officers by prohibiting them from wearing masks and by requiring identification in the manner prescribed by D.R.M.C. §§ 28-300–28-303.
Not only does this law represent an illegal attempt to regulate the Federal Government, but, as alleged in the complaint, the law threatens the safety of federal officers who are already facing an unprecedented wave of harassment, doxxing, and even violence. Threatening officers with prosecution for simply protecting their identities and their families chills the enforcement of federal law and compromises sensitive law enforcement operations.
“Under the U.S. Constitution, the Supremacy Clause makes clear that states and localities do not have the authority to regulate the Federal Government,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “And they certainly cannot enact laws that place the safety of federal law enforcement at risk and undermine federal operations. We will never tolerate the doxxing or harassment of federal officers, or any law like those in Denver that enable violent behavior against federal law enforcement officers and their families.”
“The Denver masking and identification ordinance directly regulates federal law enforcement operations and threatens severe consequences for officers and public safety alike,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The Federal Government gets to decide which equipment federal officers may or may not wear when performing their official duties.”
Attorney General Blanche has instructed the Department’s Civil Division to identify state and local laws, policies, and practices that facilitate violations of federal laws or impede lawful federal operations. Today’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of lawsuits brought by the Civil Division targeting illegal policies designed to thwart federal law enforcement across the country, including in Maryland, New York, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey, California, Philadelphia, and Milwaukee. Through this filing, the Department reaffirms that federal law enforcement operations cannot be compromised by state or local measures that violate federal law.