Martina White: Larry Krasner’s masked hypocrisy

District Attorney Larry Krasner joined radical Philadelphia Democrats outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office to mock law enforcement and defend those who actively undermine public safety. Sadly, it was just the latest act in his years-long campaign to excuse crime and vilify those who enforce the law.

The hypocrisy is staggering. These same elected officials loudly decry, and falsely slander, law enforcement officers as “masked individuals terrorizing our communities.” Yet where were they when supporters of Hamas — an actual terrorist group that perpetrated the worst attack on Jews since the Holocaust on Oct. 7, 2023 — covered their faces while harassing Jewish students on campuses across Philadelphia? Where were they when masked rioters looted, burned, and destroyed homes and businesses in 2020? Their silence then speaks louder than words ever could.

At the recent rally, Krasner stood beside a sign reading: “Spot the difference, burglar, bandit, ICE.” If he and his allies cannot, allow me to make the difference clear: Criminals wear masks to conceal their identities and feel emboldened to commit violent crimes. By contrast, law enforcement officers may, at times, cover their faces to protect themselves and their families from targeted violence. ICE agents, in particular, have recently faced increasing threats. 

Assaults on officers have surged 1,000 percent over the past year, culminating in the deadly sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas, where an anti-ICE radical shot and killed multiple people. This violence is being driven in large part by targeted doxxing campaigns carried out by activists and even some Democrat officials, as seen recently in California. 

What we are witnessing is not new — it is simply the latest iteration of the same failed ideology behind the defund-the-police movement. That movement unleashed a historic wave of violence across Philadelphia, making families less safe and destabilizing neighborhoods and communities. And like every discredited idea, it has not vanished. It has merely rebranded, now targeting federal officers whose job is to enforce immigration law and remove violent offenders from our streets.

Enough is enough. Communities cannot thrive when criminals can hide behind masks and terrorize their neighbors while the brave men and women who uphold the law are vilified for protecting themselves and their families. That is why I, along with my colleague, Rep. Kristin Marcell, are proud to reintroduce legislation to ban face coverings in public spaces, with reasonable exceptions (House Bill 1831) and to impose tougher penalties on offenders who commit crimes while masked (House Bill 1832). 

This is not complicated. Law-abiding citizens should be able to walk the streets without fear of masked criminals. Students deserve campuses free from ethnic intimidation. Police officers and law enforcement agents deserve protection from targeted harassment and assault. And Philadelphia families deserve leaders who prioritize their safety — not politicians who excuse lawlessness and target those who keep us safe.

Rep. Martina White, a former financial advisor and lifelong resident of Northeast Philadelphia, was first elected on March 24, 2015, in a special election to fill an open seat in the 170th District. She became the first new Republican elected in Philadelphia in 25 years.