Detroit will have an 8 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday curfew in an attempt to prevent late night and early morning violence that erupted the past two days.
Though the curfew is intended for one night, Mayor Mike Duggan warned it could be extended.
“It’s going to stay in place as long as the (police) chief feels a threat from people outside this community. Hopefully it won’t be long,” Duggan said at a Sunday press conference.
“You want (city leaders) to say it’s wrong and we need to fix it. We already got that. There is no need to burn, there is no need to loot, there is no need to taunt the police.” – Pastor Maurice Hardwick
During the curfew, people can not use public streets or public areas. They can still travel to and from work, or, deal with an emergency, officials said. The Detroit Department of Transportation buses will continue to run.
The curfew comes as a third day of protests against police brutality is planned for Sunday afternoon in front of the Detroit Police Headquarters downtown.
Detroit so far has avoided the mass looting and destruction of property that other U.S. cities have witnessed in the past week as hundreds of thousands have turned out nationwide to protest police brutality against African Americans.
The Friday and Saturday marches in Detroit were peaceful for hours, but, at night, a different crowd assembled and it resulted in violent confrontations between protestors and police.
Police said 60 people were arrested from the clashes after the Friday protest. Officials added 65 percent of those detained were not Detroit residents. After the Saturday event, 84 were arrested and 75 percent of those detained were not Detroit residents. Many of those arrests occurred after midnight, Mayor Mike Duggan said.
Police had gathered evidence that a small group of protestors were prepared for violence during the previous two marches. Protesters used walkie-talkies to communicate during the events and had “supply vehicles” that contained “rocks, bottles and fireworks,” Duggan said.
Rev. Wendell Anthony and several Detroit civil rights activists joined Duggan, along with Detroit Police Chief James Craig, at the media event.
Detroit is not seeing the kind of violence disrupting other cities because of the strong Black leadership in the Motor City, several civil rights leaders said.
Both Mayor Duggan and Police Chief Craig have denounced the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis as a murder and have expressed support of the peaceful marches against police brutality.
Maurice Hardwick, senior pastor of Power Ministry’s Church in Detroit, is among the Detroit faith-based leaders who has attended the protests and tried to prevent the violence.
Hardwick said he told protesters Saturday that Detroit should lead the reform movement.
“You want what we already got,” Hardwick said. “You want (city leaders) to say it’s wrong and we need to fix it. We already got that. There is no need to burn, there is no need to loot, there is no need to taunt the police.”
“We should be a model and an example. Let’s lead the way.”