Jun 4, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Cities abandon curfews on George Floyd protests

Marisa Fernandez

Projected text reading with "We can't breath" demonstrated by protesters — Protesters projected text onto a building in Washington, D.C., after curfew early Thursday. Photo: Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Several cities are ending curfews after the protests over the death of George Floyd and other police-related killings of black people led to fewer arrests and less violence on Wednesday night.

The big picture: Los Angeles and Washington D.C. are the latest to end nightly curfews. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan tweeted Wednesday night that "peaceful protests can continue without a curfew," while San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted that the city's curfew would end at 5am Thursday.

Detroit's police chief said he wouldn't stop a peaceful march from taking place after the city's 8pm curfew, the Detroit Free Press reports.

In New York City, meanwhile, NYPD officers aggressively dispersed large crowds in Brooklyn and Manhattan beyond the city's 8pm curfew on Wednesday, the New York Times reports.

The NYPD's chief defended the police crackdown on protesters in the city, saying: "When we have these big crowds, especially in this area, especially where we’ve had the looting, no more tolerance."

In photos: Global protests over George Floyd's death

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Cities abandon curfews on George Floyd protests

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