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Raleigh curfew extended to Sunday night, mayor regrets not having it in place sooner

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said the city-wide curfew will not end until at least Monday. Baldwin said she regrets not having a curfew in place last Sunday, when protests over the death of George Floyd escalated into riots which included destruction of property, fires and vandalism.

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By
Amanda Lamb
, WRAL reporter
RALEIGH, N.C. — Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said the citywide curfew will not end until at least Monday.

Baldwin said she regrets not having a curfew in place last Sunday, when protests over the death of George Floyd escalated into riots which included destruction of property, fires and vandalism.

A citywide curfew will be in place Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights from 10 p.m. until 5 a.m. Raleigh's curfew limits travel for the public, but it allows exceptions for:

  • law enforcement officers, firefighters and other public employees in the performance of their job duties;
  • Doctors, nurses, employees of hospitals and other medical facilities in the performance of their job duties;
  • On-duty military personnel, whether state or federal;
  • On-duty employees of public utilities, public transportation;
  • Newspaper, magazine, radio broadcasting, and television broadcasting corporations;
  • Package delivery companies which package goods and deliver them to homes, including but not limited to Amazon, FedEx and UPS and their employees while on duty.

Even businesses usually staffed and open 24 hours a day are required to close during the hours of the curfew, unless they can operate without staff.

While Raleigh's curfew will remain in effect on Sunday night, the city of Fayetteville announced that its curfew is over Sunday, having been in effect since last Sunday.

Baldwin said she recognized the strain a curfew puts on businesses that are already struggling "under the pressures of COVID-19 and the violence from the weekend before."

"Our small businesses were just beginning to get back to work after months of not being able to open," she said.

But, Baldwin said she decided to keep the curfew in place anyway because what happened last weekend was "unacceptable."

"Rocks were hurled at officers," Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown said. "That's no longer a peaceful protest."

Sometimes, Deck-Brown said, situations on the street called for officers to engage with protesters.

"What I regret as chief is that this had to happen under my watch period," Deck-Brown said.

In her press conference on Friday morning, Baldwin said, "I want to make clear that black lives matter."

"Those that are taking to the streets and protesting are right to call out these injustices, and I am committing myself to listen," Baldwin said.

Baldwin also announced that the city would join with Campaign Zero's 8 Can't Wait project of de-escalation, a list of eight policy changes that includes banning chokeholds, requiring de-escalation of situations first and requiring officers to intervene if they see another officer using too much force.

"Our city, state and nation are at a turning point," Baldwin said.

When asked about calls to remove Deck-Brown from office, Baldwin said: "The Raleigh City council supports our police chief. She has always been courageous, compassionate and gracious."

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