Actually that’s incorrect.
The “everybody wear a mask” mandates started happening BEFORE the riots. And then during the riots the fact that so many of the rioters were masked made it difficult if not impossible for law enforcement to identify them.
Almost as if that were planned or something.
Actually, the masks did give the rioters perfect anonymity, but the orders to wear masks had been pretty spotty and inconsistent up until then. When the riots died down came the edict that suddenly EVERYONE must wear a mask. This was the case in my Democrat-controlled state, anyway.