Nassau County cops busted an illegal migrant teen carrying a massive knife in the first arrest under a first-in-the-nation law that bans wearing masks in public, authorities said Tuesday.
Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, 18, was spotted in a ski mask lurking around a Levittown neighborhood Sunday night — and cops found he was armed with a 14-inch blade when they stopped him under the “Mask Transparency Act.”
“Our police officers were able to use the mask ban legislation as well as other factors to stop and interrogate an individual who was carrying a weapon with the intent to engage in a robbery,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman told The Post.
“Passing this law gave police another tool to stop this dangerous criminal,” he added.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials confirmed to Nassau law enforcement that Ramirez Castillo — who is originally from Gautemala — illegally crossed the southern border in 2019.
“This is just another example of how important it is to vet every migrant before admitting them into our country. Nassau is not a sanctuary county,” Blakeman said.
Police responded to reports of a “suspicious male who was walking eastbound on Spindle Road, dressed in black, and wearing a mask to conceal his identity,” a police report obtained by The Post said.
“Upon further investigation, the defendant Wesslin Omar Ramirez Castillo, 18,… continued to display suspicious behavior while attempting to conceal a large bulge in his waistband which turned out to be a 14 inch knife,” the report said.
“Defendant Ramirez Castillo refused to comply with Officers’ commands as he was placed under arrest without further incident.”
Ramirez Castillo is charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, obstructing governmental administration in the second degree, and violating the 90-Mask Transparency Act, misdemeanor counts.
He was arraigned in criminal court Monday.
Nassau Executive Blakeman approved the face-covering law that passed the Republican-led legislature on Aug.14.
The bill was championed by Nassau Legislator Mazi Pilip, an Ethiopian-born Jew from Great Neck, who said she wanted to expose antisemitic thugs who have hidden their identies at raging anti-Israel demonstrations.
During the bill signing ceremony, Blakeman emphasized the ban wouldn’t just focus on cracking down on lawbreakers shielding their identities at protests.
He argued that the law would also be used to clamp down on masked criminals who carjack, shoplift and rob banks.
Nassau County Police Chief Patrick Ryder is expected to reveal more details on mask-wearing defendant Ramirez Castillo’s case on Wednesday, included whether he will be deported.
National black and Jewish civil rights leaders — including the NAACP, Urban League and Anti-Defamation League — have launched an “UnMaskHateNY” campaign to urge Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state legislature to adopt a statewide ban on wearing face coverings to shield one’s identity during protests.
The grassroots #EndJewHatred civil rights movement was set to rally outside of Columbia University Tuesday to call on Columbia and and all American universities to ban wearin masks or facial coverings in public places.
