Raleigh mayor continues 10 p.m. citywide curfew through weekend, regrets waiting

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin has extended a citywide curfew through Sunday amid continuing protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and police violence against African Americans.

Baldwin announced the curfew would continue at a Friday news conference. It followed a special City Council meeting Thursday night, where dozens of speakers called for her and Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown to resign over the city’s response to protesters last weekend.

Baldwin told The News & Observer in a text after Thursday’s meeting that she will not resign.

At the news conference, Baldwin acknowledged the curfew has caused hardship. But she said she hopes by keeping it at 10 p.m. — it originally began at 8 p.m. — more Raleigh businesses can operate as they need to. She said she will meet with downtown business people next week to see how the city can help them.

“We all care about the business community,” Baldwin said. “They are the lifeblood of our community.”

The curfew began Monday night.

Regret over curfew delay

Baldwin said she regrets not enacting a curfew last Sunday, the day after police in tactical gear first met protesters with tear gas and foam bullets.

“Yes, hindsight is 20/20, though with the information we had at the time we hoped that would not be necessary,” Baldwin said. “We found out otherwise. “

“It’s a regret I will live with,” she said.

At the press conference, Deck-Brown said Saturday’s protest started out peacefully but changed when some protesters “stormed” a government building sally port, a secure entry way, and when some threw rocks at officers.

“When it changed we have to respond too,” Deck-Brown said, “because individuals are literally being harmed out there.”

What started out so peacefully that she said wouldn’t have even called it a protest, became anarchy, the chief continued.

“People came with an intention to do the damage they did. On any given day you don’t find that many rocks on any sidewalk in this city,” Deck-Brown said. “People came with an intentionality: to do damage, to cause harm, to create anarchy.”

“And we have to call that like it is,” she said.

‘Sometimes all you need is a conversation’

But Deck-Brown, who later met and spoke with small groups of protesters on the street this week, said the peaceful protests amid the curfew show what can happen when community members listen to one another.

“Please don’t think that because I’m in this uniform I don’t get discriminated against,” said the chief, who is black. “Sometimes all you need is a conversation. But people have to be willing to hear it, too.”

Baldwin adjourned Thursday night’s special council meeting after about 130 people spoke and minutes before the 10 p.m. curfew. There were nearly 200 people still waiting to speak, according to city staff.

The mayor said Friday that the conversation will continue.

She also said the City Council stands by the chief, calling her courageous, passionate and professional.

“We have her back, and we support her,” Baldwin said.

For a full list of curfew exemptions, call the city’s hotline at 919-996-2200 or go to www.raleighnc.gov.

This story was originally published June 5, 2020 at 11:36 AM.