After renewed, sometimes violent, mass protests against racism, discrimination and police brutality in New York, the night curfew for the metropolis has been extended. Up to and including Sunday, only systemically important professionals are allowed to leave their homes between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m., Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday. Previously, there was a curfew from 11 p.m. on Monday, but many demonstrators ignored it.
The protests in the metropolis were “mostly peaceful” on Tuesday night, said De Blasio. However, there was also another looting, the authorities said. “These protests have power and meaning,” wrote the mayor on Twitter. “But as the night goes on, we see more and more groups using them to provoke violence and destroy things.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo was appalled. “Last night was not good,” said Cuomo at his daily press conference on the corona crisis. The police in New York did not do their job. “I think the mayor is underestimating the extent of the problem.” De Blasio had rejected support from the National Guard. Cuomo said the New York police must deploy more of their 38,000 people to prevent looting and vandalism.
Trump recommends the use of the National Guard
New York was “torn to pieces”, wrote US President Donald Trump on Twitter and blamed “looters, thugs, the radical left and all other forms of lowly living beings and scum”. The curfew had to start at 7 p.m. local time and the National Guard had to come to the rescue, demanded Trump. Governor Cuomo rejected this offer. Governor Cuomo and Mayor De Blasio stressed that the New York police force, which is well-staffed, could get things under control on their own.
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The photos showed that on Tuesday night, among other things, windows were smashed and looted at the well-known Macy’s department store in Manhattan and at numerous luxury shops along Fifth Avenue and Broadway. There were protests in the other districts as well. Police helicopters circled over the metropolis all night.
The African American Floyd was killed in a brutal police operation in Minneapolis last week. Protests subsequently spread throughout the country, leading to riots and looting in numerous metropolises. Before New York, at least 40 cities in the US had already imposed night curfews, including the capital Washington. (dpa)
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