Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird expressed mixed feelings Friday over issuing a curfew last Sunday after she says “bad actors” used otherwise peaceful protests to spread chaos.
The mayor said at a media conference Friday that when she issued the curfew Sunday, she believed at the time that it would prevent an escalation of the violence and destruction that plagued the city during riots Friday and Saturday.
“As a white person, my lens on the world prevented me from recognizing how the use of curfew could foster mistrust and increase tensions,” said Gaylor Baird.
The mayor says on the first night of the curfew, multiple law enforcement agents and protesters sustained injuries.
“In the days since, law enforcement, peaceful protesters, and I have learned and evolved,” the mayor said.
Gaylor Baird said added that, in the coming days, her administration will take several steps to address resident concerns regarding policing.
For starters, the mayor said her office will review the Lincoln Police Department’s “use of force” policies as well as find ways to improve the city’s Citizen Police Advisory Board.
Additionally, the mayor said her administration would partner with community leaders, elected leaders, and residents “to increase a shared understanding of the specific issues on inequity in Lincoln.”
One such meeting took place Friday at the Malone Center.
A video of Sunday’s protests can be found below: