NYC braces: George Floyd protesters ignore earlier curfew, NYPD enforce new roadblocks
Looters continued to break into stores in New York City late Tuesday night and into the morning, despite an 8 p.m. curfew, but reports indicated that the scene was much calmer than the past few nights.
Thousands of protesters in the city disregarded the strict curfew and took the extraordinary step to essentially ban cars south of 96th Street during the curfew hours, according to Fox5NY.com.
The city, like others around the country, has been rocked by protests over the death of George Floyd, which happened in Minneapolis on May 25 while he was in police custody.
The New York Post reported that video surfaced online that showed a Zara clothing store being looted in lower Manhattan and about five men used bats and crowbars to gain entry to Nordstrom Rack on 31st Street and 6th Avenue. The report said that they were scared off before stealing anything.Jan Ransom✔@Jan_Ransom
After some people broke into a Zara on Broadway lots of police arrived, by car, bike, on foot.
208Twitter Ads info and privacy118 people are talking about this
As part of the enhanced measures, police installed checkpoints on the streets to block unauthorized vehicles. In some places, as protesters continued to march into the night, there was relative calm. But evidence of vandalism was once again visible in some parts of the city.
A group of marchers was arrested on the West Side Highway after the 8 p.m. curfew, the New York Post reported, but videos from elsewhere in the city continued to show large crowds into the night.
A sidewalk is spray painted with graffiti about New York City’s curfew order, in the Brooklyn borough of New York, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
One video from Times Square showed large crowds of people still gathered in the street nearly two hours after the curfew.
Around 9 p.m., hundreds of marchers busted up a Verizon store at Fulton Street and Broadway — near City Hall — the Daily News reported. The crowd moved down Canal Street and returned to Broadway, smashing windows along the way, the report said.Breaking911@Breaking911
“De Blasio resign” crowd chants
Video via @ZachReports
7,002Twitter Ads info and privacy3,387 people are talking about this
In a separate incident, NYPD police officers in Brooklyn fatally shot a suspect who was accused of shooting another man, the Post reported.
About a half hour before curfew time, thousands of protesters made their way toward Trump Tower in Manhattan. They showed a heavy police presence with uniformed officers and steel fencing installed in an effort to minimize looting and violence.Video
Earlier in the day, Gov. Andrew Cuomo threatened to “displace” Mayor Bill de Blasio over the ongoing violence in the city.
“The NYPD and the mayor did not do their job last night, I believe that,” Cuomo said. He continued, You have 38,000 NYPD people, it is the largest police department in the United States of America. Use 38,000 people and protect property. Use the police, protect property and people. Look at the videos, it was a disgrace.”
De Blasio later criticized Cuomo for calling out the police department. He later tweeted that the curfew in the city appeared to be helping.
