Downtown Cleveland curfew extended from noon Sunday to Tuesday night

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - The city of Cleveland instituted a curfew due to “violence and unrest” in the midst of the George Floyd protests erupting downtown by enacting a Proclamation of Civil Emergency from Civil Unrest.

[ Cleveland Police cruisers set on fire, objects thrown at officers, vandalism continues during George Floyd protests downtown ]

[ Downtown Cleveland George Floyd protest: 66 arrests, 23 fires, 20 hospitalized, multiple injured first responders ]

City officials extended the curfew twice, so now it is in effect from noon on Sunday, May 31 until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 2 for vehicle and foot traffic.

The curfew has also been expanded from the Central Business district to the Market District and Ohio City.

Cleveland Police said “No one should be outside downtown. Violators are subject to arrest. A parking ban is declared as of noon on all downtown city streets. Vehicles in violation will be towed.”

[ CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PROCLAMATION ]

Here are maps of the affected areas from the City of Cleveland:

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Police Chief Calvin Williams made the first extension announcement during a news conference on Facebook live just before 1 a.m. Sunday.

The mayor said city workers will work with the Downtown Alliance to clean up the damage.

“We will bring in our people to do clean up and board up,” said Mayor Jackson.

“I want to thank the folks who came down and demonstrated peacefully," said Chief Calvin Williams. "They didn’t cause us an issue. There was a large group of folks who had no intent on being peaceful in this thing and that caused all of our problems here downtown.”

The chief is encouraging people to stay away from downtown and downtown residents to stay inside their homes.

Black Lives Matter Cleveland joined the “call for justice” to protest the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer.

The organization invited the community to come to the Free Stamp at Williard Park at the intersection of E. 9th Street and Lakeside Avenue East on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. for a “peaceful” protest.

Protestors set two Cleveland Police cruisers on fire, vandalized the Justice Center with graphic graffiti, threw objects at the Justice Center in an attempt to break windows, and struck officers with those objects, according to police.

Police said protesters also threw objects at the mounted unit and police horses.

Civilian cars around the Justice Center have also been vandalized and set on fire.

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