Ohio’s top lawyer advised the state’s public universities that a law written to deter Ku Klux Klan demonstrations could be used to impose felony charges on students who wear face coverings while protesting the war in Gaza.

In a letter sent Monday, after weeks of pro-Palestinian campus protests around the country, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost advised the presidents of Ohio’s 34 public universities to forewarn students about the 1953 law.

“In our society, there are few more significant career-wreckers than a felony charge,” the letter said. “I write to you today to inform your student bodies of an Ohio law that, in the context of some behavior during the recent pro-Palestinian protests, could have that effect.”

Violating this “anti-disguise” law is punishable by a fourth-degree felony charge, up to $5,000 in fines and five years on community control, Yost wrote.

College campuses around the world have exploded in recent weeks in protests by pro-Palestinian students and faculty members against Israel’s war on Gaza, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed.