California has enacted a law prohibiting most law enforcement officers from covering their faces while on duty, sparking debate over its enforcement on federal agents.

California has become the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while on duty.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed what sponsors have called the “No Secret Police Act” into law on Saturday.

The law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2026, makes exceptions for the use of motorcycle or other safety helmets, sunglasses, or other standard law enforcement gear not designed with the purpose of hiding anyone’s identity. The California Highway Patrol is also exempt.

Officers who violate the law could face charges or lose their qualified immunity.

The bill was a direct response to recent immigration raids in California, where federal agents wore masks while making arrests.

“ICE. Unmask. What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? What are you afraid of? You’re going to go out and you’re going to do enforcement. Provide an ID,” Newsom said Saturday at a news conference in Los Angeles.

Right now, it’s not clear how or if state can enforce the ban on federal agents.

Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli posted on X Saturday saying California has no jurisdiction over the federal government.

“I’ve directed our federal agencies that the law signed today has no effect on our operations. Our agents will continue to protect their identities,” he said in a post to X.

As for local jurisdictions, Sgt. Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office said lawmakers are creating a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

“This will have no consequence to quite literally anybody. They have no jurisdiction over federal authorities. When is the last time you walked outside and saw a patrolman in a mask? It doesn’t happen,” he said. “It’s absolutely stupid and useless. This doesn’t affect anybody it’s intended to effect.”

Advocacy groups like NorCal Resist said they are looking forward to learning about how the new law will be enforced. They sent a statement reading in part, “We are encouraged to see steps being taken to end these disturbing, secret police tactics that have created terror in our immigrant communities.”

The White House also sent a statement to KCRA 3. It reads in part, “ICE officers wear masks to protect themselves and their families from being doxed. ICE officers act heroically to enforce the law and protect American communities with the utmost professionalism. Anyone pointing the finger at law enforcement officers instead of the criminals are simply doing the bidding of criminal illegal aliens.”

Newsom signed the bill along with several others aimed at protecting California’s immigrant communities.

The package of legislation would require that families be notified when immigration agents come on school campuses and require a judicial warrant or court order before giving student information or classroom access to ICE.

The new legislation would also require a warrant or court order before allowing agents access to emergency rooms and other nonpublic areas of a hospital. And it would clarify that immigration information collected by a health care provider is medical information.

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FBI arrests Sacramento man in connection with ABC10 news station shooting after earlier release on bail

Updated: 11:17 PM PDT Sep 20, 2025

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

A Sacramento man suspected of shooting into the ABC10 television station’s lobby has been arrested again, hours after he posted bail on Saturday, officials said.

The FBI said Anibal Hernandez Santana, 64, was arrested on probable cause for violating federal statute 47 USC 333, which has to do with interference to radio communications of stations that are licensed by the government.

Police said Friday they responded to reports of shots being fired from outside the ABC10 building at 400 Broadway after 1:30 p.m. No one was injured in the shooting despite the building being occupied.

Hearst Owned

• See the press conference with Sacramento PD in the video player below

Three bullet holes were seen in the window of building’s lobby. A person was in the lobby at the time of the shooting, but not physically harmed, the station said.

Police confirmed early Saturday that Hernandez Santana was arrested Friday evening at a residence in the 5400 block of Carlson Drive in River Park. Investigators had linked him to a vehicle suspected in the drive-by shooting.

He was first booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail around midnight on charges that include assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm. Bail was set at $200,000, jail records also showed. He posted bail on Saturday, police said.

Asked Saturday afternoon whether a weapon had been recovered during the arrest, a Sacramento police spokesperson said she did not have that detail at this time. Police said a possible motive remained under investigation.

KCRA 3 saw the police activity at the River Park Apartments around 6:15 p.m. on Friday, which included several police cars and a SWAT team. Asked for comment at the time, police called their presence a planned operation.

“We made eye contact,” recalled a tenant named Angela. “And right as he passed my windshield, I heard on a loudspeaker a whole bunch of officers say, ‘Get down on the ground or we’re going to shoot.'”

Hernandez Santana was not on his neighbors’ radar.

“We parked right next to each other,” tenant Destini Rich said. “There’s no cars in between us, so I’m always seeing him, like, coming and going.”

“He was a nice guy,” said another tenant, Emily Alves. “But then after hearing all this, we were we’re just like, ‘What? What happened?”

Hearst OwnedThree bullet holes can seen in a window at ABC10’s television station after a shooting. 

Tegna, which owns ABC10, issued the following statement: “We can confirm that shots were fired into our station at KXTV earlier today. While details are still limited, importantly all of our employees are safe and unharmed. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said he had been briefed on the shooting.

“While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” the governor’s office shared in a post on X. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”

Sacramento police thanked the FBI for providing resources in its investigation. They asked anyone with information to contact them.

Defense attorney Mark Reichel confirmed to KCRA 3 that he is representing Hernandez Santana, but did not have a statement after his release. KCRA 3 has reached out to him again about the new arrest.

Hernandez Santana is set to appear in federal court Monday at 2 p.m., the FBI said.

Earlier, jail records had said he was due in Sacramento County Superior Court Tuesday at 3 p.m.

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