Last month a group of Republican lawmakers, led by Rep. Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. (R-NY), introduced H.R. 6054, the “Unmasking Antifa Act of 2018.” Aimed directly at the violent anarchists masquerading as anti-fascists who have injured numerous peaceful protesters in the last 18 months or so, the legislation would make it a federal crime to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person while wearing a mask. Convictions under the act would carry stiff fines and up to 15 years in prison. It also includes 2 years of jail time for “destroying buildings or property” while wearing a mask or disguise.
 
Sounds like a plan. Similar laws were passed last century to passed to address violence from the Ku Klux Klan.

 
Naturally, the thugs are not pleased. As Campus Reform reports ~

Numerous Antifa organizations have taken to social media to voice their disdain for the legislation, smearing lawmakers behind the initiative and even implying that violent resistance might be an appropriate response.
 
After the bill was was covered by mainstream publications in early July, “Antifa USA,” an activist group based out of Arizona, tweeted an image of what appears to be an Antifa member surrounded by an arsenal of military-style weapons.

The fact that Antifa fascists don’t want to be unmasked tells you everything you need to know about them. They’re essentially cowards. Like their predecessors in the KKK they’re full of rage and hateful intolerance. And because – also like the Klan – they’re well aware that their radical agenda would be roundly opposed by those of us in the civil society, they view anonymous violence as their only alternative.
 

Campus Reform spoke with Rep. Donovan about the need for H.R. 6054 ~

Rep. Donovan said that the bill “expands upon long-standing civil rights statutes to make it a crime to deprive someone of Constitutionally-guaranteed protections while masked or disguised.”
 
“Americans have the natural right to speak and protest freely; it is not a right to throw Molotov cocktails and beat people while hiding behind a mask,” the lawmaker added.

 
My only criticism would be that this action should really be taken at the state level rather than the federal (as were the laws passed to criminalize the KKK’s activities). That’s the position of Raven Clabough at the New American ~

Constitutionally speaking, though, the federal government has no authority over such matters, and such a law would be another step toward a national police force. Nationalization of the police is not a good thing, even if it’s used to combat unappealing groups such as Antifa, since such a “national” criminal code could easily be used against anyone opposed to federal overreach. Police need to be kept local and independent.