Washington/San Francisco/Los Angeles: Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said on Sunday night she was imposing a citywide curfew amid rising tensions between protesters and police outside the White House over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in Minneapolis police custody.
Bowser said in a statement the curfew would last “from 11 p.m. on Sunday, May 31, until 6 a.m. on Monday, June 1.” She had also activated the D.C. National Guard to support the local police, Xinhua news agency reported.
Sunday marked the third day in a row of protests in the U.S. capital over the death of Floyd. While the clash between protesters and law enforcement officers was less severe than that in other parts of the country, D.C. Chief of Police Peter Newsham said on Sunday the Metropolitan Police Department still arrested 17 people Saturday night and that 11 police officers were injured during the protests.
Floyd, aged 46, died on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe,” and “please, I can’t breathe.” Chauvin was arrested and charged with three-degree murder and manslaughter earlier on Friday.
Floyd’s plea before his death evoked African Americans’ painful memories. In 2014, a cellphone recorded an unarmed black man, Eric Garner, repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe” when a New York officer held him in a chokehold before his death in police custody. Since then, the plea has become a rallying cry at demonstrations against police misconduct across the country.
San Francisco Mayor of the US west coast city London Breed announced that the one-night curfew she declared earlier shall remain in effect until the state of local emergency is terminated or at her further direction.
The curfew was announced following chaos and looting in downtown areas. Stores were damaged and looted in some Bay Area cities, including San Francisco, on Saturday as protests over the death of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis raged on in the region, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
San Francisco announced on Saturday night a curfew in the city that would last from 8 p.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday local time with the National Guard on standby.
Incidents of vandalism and violence Saturday night in San Francisco have highlighted the need for residents to stay home at night to protect themselves and their communities, the announcement said.
“The murder of George Floyd is only the latest in a long history of African-American men who have lost their lives as a result of police violence. There is a lot of pain right now here in San Francisco and across the country,” said Breed at a news briefing.
“Peaceful protests in San Francisco will continue to have my full support and the full support of the city. Unfortunately, some of the violence and vandalism we saw last night is unacceptable, and we will be instituting a curfew beginning tonight,” she added.
“I understand the strong feelings motivating people to protest what happened in Minneapolis,” said San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott. “We’re also seeing lawlessness and looting that has no place in our city.”
He said the police will continue to enforce the law and protect public safety and urged residents to heed the curfew order.
“The majority of people taking to the streets are doing it peacefully, powerfully, and with respect and compassion for the cause they’re fighting for,” said the city’s Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson. “Together we need to protect our communities from those not intent of peaceful protest. This curfew is in place to protect our San Francisco communities.”
Los Angeles declared another curfew effective local time 8 p.m. on Sunday to 5.30 a.m. on Monday as the second-largest city in the United States braced for another day of unrest and potentially violent protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the order at a press conference Sunday noon after a night of looting and vandalism in the city’s downtown and shopping streets, Xinhua news agency reported.
Other cities in Southern California, including Santa Ana, Culver City and West Hollywood, which joined Los Angeles in proclaiming an overnight curfew on Saturday, also extended the curfew to local time 5.30 a.m. on Monday.
Police continued to arrest people who were looting stores or were on the streets in violation of a city curfew early Sunday morning and hundreds of the members of California National Guard were deployed overnight in Los Angeles downtown to restore the order.
California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County on Saturday night to cope with the unrest, which, with a population of more than 10 million population, is the most populous county in the United States.
The document signed by Newsom attributed the Los Angeles protests to a response to the death of George Floyd.
“On May 25, 2020, George Floyd tragically died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shortly following his arrest in which an officer of the Minneapolis Police Department kneeled on his neck to detain him during the arrest, and then did not respond to Mr. Floyd’s requests for help when he stated that he could not breathe,” the document read.
The Consulate General of China in Los Angeles issued a note to Chinese citizens living in the area, reminding them to follow curfew imposed by the local authority and skip places where the protests and riots erupted.
