The DOJ is investigating how many crimes are committed with masks on

Community masks don't slow respiratory viruses; they do hide identities. The DOJ is investigating

Last week the Department of Justice requested information on the number of crimes committed with face masks.

Let's recap the facts

Prior to the covid-19 pandemic, the evidence was clear that community mask wearing did not slow the spread of respiratory viruses. The CDC, the WHO and Anthony Fauci all advised against it.

Then in March and April of 2020, due to a propaganda campaign, largely led by folks unaccustomed to evidence-based medicine, major organizations changed their position, though the evidence did not change. They went further and recommended cloth masks.

Then during the pandemic 4 RCTs were completed. Bangladesh is a negative trial for cloth and negative, accounting for concealment bias, for surgical. DanMask is negative. GB was unhelpful as was a recent BMJ paper I discussed on SM last summer.

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Gradually, sensible people stopped masking and came to believe that mask mandates were unhelpful. Increasingly, people who continued to masks were those who benefit from anonymity, including criminals.

By the summer of 2024, a number of cities sought to outlaw public masking and by the fall of 2024, a number of schools made strict policies that one cannot mask to shield one's identity.

Wearing a mask in public has never shown it can improve health outcomes nor avert respiratory viruses. It has been utilized by many criminals and has made detection more difficult.

It is against this context that the DOJ is requesting this information. To me, normalizing mask wearing is a public health mistake. There is no strong evidence it ever helped, no evidence it currently helps, and clear downsides including impairing human relations and shielding crime. It is a good thing the DOJ will seeking to quantify this.