NYC curfew lifted ‘effective immediately’ following peaceful protests against police brutality

The curfew in New York City is no longer necessary, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday. It follows two days of peaceful protests in the Big Apple against the killing of George Floyd.

Initially covering hours between 11pm and 5am, it was later expanded to start at 8pm and was expected to last till at least Sunday. The curfew is lifted “effective immediately,” the mayor tweeted on Sunday, adding that “Yesterday and last night we saw the very best of our city.”

While technically the curfew was still in place on Saturday, the NYPD largely stopped enforcing it. Consequently, peaceful protest in New York continued hours after activists were supposed to clear the streets. The curfew was officially lifted as New York enters the first phase of reopening from the Covid-19 lockdown, which lasted for more than two months.

The thousands-strong protests against police brutality took place despite social distancing rules, a fact that further polarized the nation which is already divided in opinion over the White House response to the disease and civil disturbance triggered by the killing of George Floyd.

The African American man was killed in Minneapolis after four white police officers pinned him to the ground, with one putting a knee on Floyd’s neck. The four officers have been fired and charged with a number of crimes, including second degree murder. The public anger over the fatal arrest, which was filmed on camera, spilled into nationwide protests which escalated into rioting and looting in many cities.

The Trump administration advocated the use of military troops in response to the violence, saying it was necessary to keep law and order in the country. Many of Trump’s critics accused him of dictatorial behavior and supported the protests, with some even justifying the violence as “the language of the unheard,” citing Martin Luther King.

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