San Francisco Mayor London late Saturday night issued a curfew to begin 8 p.m. Sunday until 5 a.m. Monday morning after a night of looting and vandalism in The City following a peaceful protest on the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.
The mayor said she has asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to have the National Guard on standby if necessary. She said it was the last thing she wanted to do.
Protesters at noon gathered near City Hall and the protest was peaceful, Police Chief Scott said and continued to be peaceful for most of the day, but as night fell, Scott said looting and vandalism began.
Jermaine Ellis via YouTube Demonstrators marching in protest of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis stand in front of police on Market Street in San Francisco, Calif. on Saturday, May 30, 2020.
Breed said she understood how hurt the community is right now over the death of Floyd addressing protests nationwide, including the protest in The City:
“I know there is a lot of hurt. There is a lot of pain and there is a lot of mistrust with law enforcement.”
The mayor said what was happening late Saturday evening with the looting and vandalism will not be tolerated:
“What we are seeing tonight, the violence, the vandalism, the crimes that are committed in our city, not just against property but against other people — that’s something we will not tolerate.”
She added that anyone not from The City to leave:
“Please do not come into San Francisco and destroy our city.”
Scott said police are making arrests and will continue arresting people for the rest of the night.
BART said that as of 9:15 p.m. Saturday, the Powell Street and Civic Center stations in San Francisco and the 12th Street station in Oakland are closed because of “civil disturbances,” and that trains are rolling through the stations without stopping “until further notice.”
Thousands of people are taking part Saturday in a protest in downtown San Francisco against Monday’s killing in Minneapolis by police of George Floyd during an arrest. As of 8:30 p.m., the protest had remained generally peaceful.
Protesters and police confronted one another underneath the Central Freeway skyway near San Francisco’s Mission District. Crowds had started gathering near San Francisco City Hall early Saturday afternoon to protest the killing of Floyd.
As of early Saturday night, the protest – involving thousands of participants – were peaceful, with many protesters dropping to a knee in the streets while police officers stood by and watched.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is warning transit users that a “civic demonstration” in the Mission Dolores neighborhood of San Francisco is affecting Muni services there, and recommends finding alternate routes if possible.
In Oakland, where protests of Floyd’s killing Friday night left a federal security guard dead, another critically wounded and more than 70 downtown businesses vandalized and/or looted, police were beefing up in preparation to respond to protesters Saturday night. By early Saturday night, there had been no reports of violence.
San Jose, which also was the scene of George Floyd protest Friday night, had not experienced any problems as of early Saturday night.
Several hundred protesters had also gathered Saturday night near the Old Courthouse in Santa Rosa’s downtown, and police were asking motorists to avoid the area.
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
