Cincinnati curfew, Columbus emergency declared amid protests

CINCINNATI (AP) — The mayor of Cincinnati announced a 10 p.m. curfew Saturday and Sunday in areas of the city following damage to businesses amid protests over the death in Minneapolis of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white officer pressed a knee into his neck.

Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said hundreds of people had demonstrated peacefully, with no major issues before 11 p.m., but those who engaged in criminal activity ’’were not part of the protest.” Eleven people were arrested and more arrests will come as suspects are identified, he said.

Cranley said the businesses targeted were just “trying to earn a living, and be active and productive members of our community.” The curfew in the downtown and Over-The-Rhine areas will allow police to clear the streets and more easily arrest the few who might commit criminal acts, he said.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reported that as many protesters began to disperse Friday night, other groups began to break windows and steal from stores. Some windows at the county justice center were broken and some restaurants and shops were broken into. About 50 businesses reported damage, officials said.

Chief Eliot Isaac of the city police department said 200 to 250 people earlier gathered and marched, at one point going onto Interstate 75, which was shut down for 20 minutes. “I understood their anger; definitely share that same anger with them,” he said.

Later, however, some turned to “violent and destructive” behavior in the downtown and Over-the-Rhine area, damaging and stealing from businesses and throwing rocks and bottles at police, who deployed pepper ball irritants and gas, Isaac said. Two officers sustained minor injuries, he said.

“I believe that everyone in that crowd last night was not from Cincinnati,” Isaac said. “This lawless behavior cannot continue. … We will not allow it.”

The Enquirer said it was the most significant unrest in the city since protests and violence following the 2001 police shooting of an unarmed black man in Over-the-Rhine, which led to days of unrest, a federal investigation and changes in the police department.

Floyd died Monday after the officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for several minutes even after he stopped moving and pleading for air.

In Columbus, police declared an emergency in the downtown area on Saturday, the third day of protests, urging people to avoid the area. Mayor Andrew Ginther said in a post on Twitter that the emergency was declared “to manage protests near the Statehouse.”

“We are asking residents to avoid the area,” he said. “Safety of everyone — protesters and police — is paramount. We’re calling for everyone to remain calm.”

Police late Friday reported five arrests and two officers injured by thrown rocks and bricks. Police reported windows broken and people “setting off fireworks and inducing panic.”

The Columbus Dispatch reported that U.S. Rep Joyce Beatty, Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce and Shannon Hardin, president of the Columbus City Council, were among those pepper-sprayed at a protest Saturday morning.

Hardin said in a message posted on Twitter “We are all OK, and we want to encourage folks, both police and protestors, to stay calm.” Police did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

In Dayton, police said Saturday in a Twitter post that rocks and bottles were thrown at officers during a protest Saturday, and one officer was injured. “We did deploy chemical munitions when the situation became violent,:” police said.