DOJ sues state over mask ban, ID requirements for federal agents
By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
TheU.S.Department of Justice on Monday sued to challenge California laws prohibiting federal law enforcement agents from wearing masks and requiring them to clearly identify themselves.
The DOJ's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court names the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta challenges "their unconstitutional attempt to regulate federal law enforcement officers through the so-called 'No Secret Police Act' and 'No Vigilantes Act.'" In September, Newsom signed laws making California the first state in the nation to prohibit federal agents, including those conducting raids and roving patrols to enforce immigration laws, from concealing their identities and requiring officers not in uniform to visibly display
information such as the agency, officer's name and badge number during enforcement activity.
The laws go into effect Jan. 1, but federal authorities will not comply with them, according to the Justice Department's court filing.
The lawsuit contends the California laws threaten officers' safety as they face harassment, doxing and violence while conducting enforcement operations. DOJ attorneys also argue that the laws violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause, under which states have no power to regulate the activity of federal agencies.
"Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe, and they do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties," U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said
in a statement. "California's anti-law enforcement policies discriminate against the federal government and are designed to create risk for our agents. These laws cannot stand."
The lawsuit cites Department of Homeland Security data showing an 8,000% increase in death threats against immigration agents and federal law enforcement officers.
"The threats to federal officers are serious and potentially deadly," DOJ attorneys wrote in the lawsuit's court filing, citing DHS data. "They range from taunting, online doxxing, and stalking, to 'vehicles being used as weapons towards' officers and even bounties being 'placed on their heads for their murders.'”
The lawsuit chides
Newsom for vowing to “'push back'" against the Trump administration immigration crackdown.
"His latest resistance — imposing a mask ban and identification requirement on federal agents operating in California — violates the United States Constitution, as even Governor Newsom apparently appreciated when he acknowledged in discussing the mask ban that 'it appears we don’t have the legal authority for federal agents," according to DOJ Civil Division lawyers.
During the bill signing, Newsom said, "ICE, unmask. What are you afraid of? You're going to go out and do enforcement? Provide an ID. Tell us what agency you represent."
Diana Crofts-Pelayo,
Arcadia woman sentenced to prison for top role in $11M money laundering ring
By City News Service
ASan Gabriel Valley woman was sentenced Tuesdaytomore than 10 years behind bars for managing a network of money launderers who collectively moved over $11 million in funds stolen from elderly victims across the country.
Cynthia Song, 43, of Arcadia, was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr., who also ordered her to pay $10 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Song pleaded guilty in downtown Los Angeles in June to one federal count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
She was arrested in October 2024 after she returned from a trip to Mexico.
Song admitted in her plea agreement to conspiring with others to launder millions stolen from mostly elderly
victims by receiving fraudulently obtained funds and quickly transferring them to overseas accounts, primarily in China.
The defendant recruited at least 15 others -- mainly people of Chinese descent living in the Los Angeles area, some of them in the country unlawfully -- to take part in the scheme. Song instructed recruits to form business entities and open multiple business bank accounts to further disguise the money laundering, prosecutors said.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said at least $11.6 million stolen from over 180 victims flowed through the scheme's bank accounts.
Song and her associates skimmed between 5% to 10% of the funds for themselves before the money was transferred to China, according to her plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court.
| Photo courtesy of George Hodan/PublicDomainPictures.net
Masked officers brief Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, at right, during an immigration law enforcement operation June 12 in Los Angeles. | Photo courtesy of Tia Dufour/DHS