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And it was that last sartorial choice that attracted attention on social media, where some people asked why the group — Patriot Front, an organization promoting “American Fascism” and deemed a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center — was able to get away with what seemed like a violation of D.C. law.

It’s currently illegal in the city to wear a mask under a number of circumstances, notably to avoid identification while engaging in illegal activities. But the law, which dates back to 1982, also says mask-wearing is prohibited if the wearer intends to intimidate or threaten another person, or if they try to deprive someone of other rights guaranteed by law. Virginia has a similar law on the books, which was tested last month, when a single person was arrested during a large pro-gun demonstration in Richmond.

Still, there were no arrests at Saturday’s white nationalist demonstration, which was escorted by a contingent of D.C. police officers. And that could largely be because many anti-mask laws rest on shaky legal foundations, often testing the careful balancing act between public safety and the First Amendment. Is a mask a means to threaten someone, or simply a tool to protect someone’s identity when they have an unpopular opinion?

It isn’t an easy question to answer, says Doron Ezickson, vice president for the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest with the Anti-Defamation League.

“The D.C. law hinges on intent, whether the person wearing the hood or mask is intended to cause another person to fear for his or her personal safety. That element of intent is very important from a constitutional standpoint,” he says.

When the D.C. Council passed the law almost four decades ago, it did so specifically because of a reported uptick in Ku Klux Klan activity in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs around D.C., and a rise in incidents in the city itself. (The law also criminalized defacing public and private property with racist messages or images.)

“In April of 1982 both the Ohev Shalom Synagogue and the 19th Street Baptist Church were defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti, and during the same month a swastika was painted on Kesher Israel Synagogue,” explained a Council report on the bill. “More recently many of the public refuse receptacles in the District of Columbia have been seen with the word ‘nigger’ painted on them.”

Virginia’s anti-mask law has similar foundations.

But D.C. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), who also is a constitutional law professor, says that what the KKK was known for doing differs from the activities of groups like Patriot Front today. While they may spring from the same general ideology, the means of expressing it have so far been different.

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