ALBANY, N.Y. (TNND) — Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., on Tuesday made an urgent appeal for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to reinstate a ban on face masks, pointing to "sympathizers" of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) while doing so.

Gov. Kathy Hochul ducked any mention of a clamored-for ban on wearing masks in public during her State of the State Tuesday — a notable omission that drew condemnation from a potential election rival.

The Southern Poverty Law Center no longer lists any Klan chapters in Florida. That wasn’t always the case. The boomtown 1920s saw neighborhoods popping up across Palm Beach County, and at least two chapters of the shadowy group that insists it’s not about hate, just pride.

N.Y., wrote to Gov. Kathy Hochul saying “masking easily enables criminals to harass, intimidate, and commit violence against innocent New Yorkers — all while remaining