Earlier this week we documented the reprehensible attack on journalist Andy Ngo, who was assaulted while chronicling an antifa confab in Portland, Oregon, this past weekend. Several others were assaulted as well.

“Serious questions need to be asked about the Portland Police Department,” says Fox News’s Todd Starnes. “Why were there no officers on the scene? Were the police ordered to stand down? And if so, by whom?” National Review’s David French adds, “It was appalling to watch masked Antifa thugs attack Andy Ngo, and it was also appalling that the police weren’t immediately present to arrest his attackers. Antifa’s propensity to violence is well known, and while I’d love to hear a sympathetic explanation for the absence of police, the lack of response looks a lot like a dereliction of duty.”

Law enforcement’s indifference to antifa — which was the optical upshot in Portland, even if it wasn’t the objective — is one area that certainly warrants review. But French highlights another problem, which is antifa’s countrywide proclivity to “protest” while donning masks. French offers this solution:

There is … a simple and well-known legal reform that will go a long way towards deterring Antifa violence — even when police aren’t close by, but iPhones are. It’s called an anti-masking law. They’ve long existed in the South as a check on Klan violence, and they not only make it easier for police to immediately identify and arrest criminals, they also allow witnesses to preserve the pictures and videos of violent attackers for later criminal or civil action. … Anti-masking laws can be unconstitutional when applied to peaceful demonstrators seeking to protect their identities as a matter of personal safety, but that reasoning doesn’t apply to Antifa. Its members seek to engage in violence and destruction with impunity, and the mask protects them from legal accountability. … While anti-masking laws aren’t a perfect cure, one thing is definitely true — it’s hard to throw a punch when you’re hiding your face with your hands.

Ironically, faux Russian-collusion witch hunters were fine with unmasking Trump officials. But antifa hoodlums are more or less being treated as a protected class because they engender “social justice” and “deservedly” malign or assault those on the Right who may or may not support President Donald Trump. And as long as they’re allowed to conceal their identity, their crimes will continue unabated.