Countywide curfew also in effect
City of Berkeley curfews requiring everyone in Berkeley to stay indoors have been extended for two more nights, starting at 9pm on both Wednesday June 3 and Thursday June 4 and ending at 5 a.m. on the following mornings.
The emergency order and curfew and the conditions requiring it are being reviewed on a daily basis and will be rescinded, as conditions warrant.
The heartbreaking, videotaped death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer has spurred justified protests, which have been overwhelmingly peaceful. At the same time, the City of Berkeley and cities around the region have seen intensive, coordinated, nighttime attempts to loot, vandalize and commit other criminal acts.
Berkeley Police have fully deployed the entire department for five consecutive nights, arrested many and thwarted dozens of others. Yet, some looting continued even as other cities around the region simultaneously experienced similar events. Merchants in many parts of the City have boarded up their stores.
While the City "fully supports the people's First Amendment rights to assemble and protest against this injustice that Mr. Floyd and many others have experienced throughout the years," the Council resolution states, "some people have alternatively chosen to use these peaceful protests as cover to commit coordinated, criminal acts."
Berkeley Police Chief Andrew R. Greenwood, who has been unequivocal in his position on Mr. Floyd's death, also emphasizes that this nighttime environment poses a risk to anyone outside at these hours, regardless of whether they are in a car.
Exemptions to the curfew include:
- Police officers, firefighters, emergency health care providers
- Those traveling to a home or workplace or to obtain medical care
- Authorized representatives of any news service, newspaper, radio or television station or network, or other news media organization; and
- People who are unsheltered
- Persons engaging in non-violent First Amendment activity before 9:00 p.m., but which must reasonably end after the curfew commences
Violation of the curfew is a misdemeanor, and violators are subject to arrest or citation.
The emergency order and curfew is effective immediately and will remain in effect until 5 a.m. on June 5, unless rescinded by City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley in her capacity as the City's Director of Emergency Services.
