Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announces a citywide curfew for Sunday night, May 31 beginning at 8pm and lasting until 6am, Monday, June 1.
“We believe people in LIncoln want to take care of each other and they want to stay safe. May will observe this curfew without any need of enforcement,” she said at a Sunday afternoon briefing.
Individuals will only be allowed to leave for work or seek medical attention.
Gaylor Baird along with Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister say the curfew protects not only residents of Lincoln but surrounding property from rioters.
Gaylor Baird also said Governor Pete Ricketts has ordered the deployment of the Nebraska National Guard. She says they will play a supportive role and Lincoln Police will take the lead role in enforcement.
The curfew and deployment of the national guard come hours after the second night of violent protests broke out across downtown Lincoln.
“I can not and will not condone violence and destruction in LIncoln and no one should. That violence and destruction honor no one,” she says.
Protestors began marching from the state capitol building between 5pm and 6pm and began snaking through downtown and then traveled down O street peacefully.
The events culminated around midnight at The Hall of Justice.
“What was a peaceful protest and an opportunity to voice outrage and be part of a change turned violent,” Bliemeister said. “Rocks, bottles, razor blades, so many other things began to get hurled at our police officers.”
Officers responded by throwing tear gas after protestors refused orders to disperse.
Bliemeister says around 1 am, a few arrests were made. Then at 2:30 windows in buildings along Lincoln Mall were smashed. Then around 3 am, Bliemeister says protestors set a fire at a business in the 600 block of South 12th street.
“That’s not indicative of Lincoln. When I walked down Lincoln Mall last night in the early morning hours, I saw calamity and chaos,” he says.
There was one injury to one citizen along with an officer injured. Biemeister says there were multiple assaults and one stabbing. Details on the arrests an extent of the injuries are not known at this time.
He estimates tens of millions of dollars in damage to Lincoln mall and tens of thousands of dollars to The Hall of Justice.
But this morning Lincoln residents provided hope.
“I saw dozens of people pitching in to help clean up the damage and the rubble and the broken glass from the night before,” Gaylor Baird says. Volunteers scrubbing graffiti and cleaning our streets. To all the people whose businesses and buildings were damaged in last night’s events, we’re doing everything in our power to prevent needless destruction.”
A Black Lives Matter demonstration is underway at the state capitol building. Organizers who spoke to KLIN New’s William Padmore that thousands are expected. City and police officials are expected to join the demonstration.
Sunday George Floyd Protest
Posted by 1400KLIN on Sunday, May 31, 2020
The hope is demonstrators will circle the building peacefully and around 5:30.
More photos from today’s demonstration.