San Francisco curfew stretches into second night after mostly peaceful debut

A protest in San Francisco remained largely peaceful on Sunday night after a curfew took effect at 8 p.m., said Police Chief Bill Scott Monday.

Demonstrators in The City continued to protest the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis after officer Derek Chauvin was seen in a video putting his knee on Floyd’s neck.

Protests have taken across the nation and Bay Area demanding police departments officers to be held accountable for violent actions taken against people of color.

In The City, Scott estimated a total of 5,000 to 6,000 people protesting during daytime hours.

The San Francisco Police Department last night received extra resources, including more than 200 additional officers from around the state, to help with potential looting, vandalism and violence. 

Mayor London Breed had said Sunday that she made the request from the state to help provide extra officers. 

Scott said Monday morning at a press conference that the extra help provided on Sunday was tremendously helpful as police were overwhelmed on Saturday night:

“We have a long way to go and there’s still a lot going on but yesterday was a good day.”

Police in total arrested 87 and cited 33 individuals for violating The City’s 8 p.m. curfew Sunday night, Scott said.

While the protest was mostly peaceful, Scott said there were some violent acts against officers, including a person hitting an officer with a skateboard and one person attempting to use a type of stun gun device on an officer.

The chief said there were individuals at the protest whose sole purpose was to cause damage to The City based on what the items they brought them to the protest, including a loaded firearm, a backpack full of fireworks and explosives:

“We will not embrace violence against anyone, against other protesters, against police officers, against property. We will not accept that.”

At City Hall, protesters remained after the curfew and officers issued a dispersal order. Scott said officers faced some hostility after the dispersal order was given and a gave ample time for people to leave before arrests were made.

Sheriff Paul Miyamoto said 64 people arrested on both infractions and misdemeanors were cited and released. Currently, 23 persons are at the department’s intake and release center.

While The City’s jail population has increased due from the last couple of days, Miyamoto said that jail capacity is still around 50 percent.

Fire Chief Jeanine Nicholson said the Fire Department received 140 emergency service calls during the curfew hours and 50 calls related to fires and 20 fires extinguished.

A curfew in The City still remains in effect from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Scott said:

“I understand, believe me, how restrictive this is. This is almost unprecedented in this city.”

Earlier today, Breed joined actor Jamie Foxx and interfaith city leaders in front of City Hall in a “kneel-down” protest against the killing of Floyd.

Jerold Chinn

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.