Kansas City orders curfew for Plaza, Westport, downtown business districts and parks
An 8 p.m. curfew has been ordered for the Country Club Plaza, Westport, downtown business districts and city parks, Kansas City officials announced Sunday.
The announcement came as Mayor Quinton Lucas and Police Chief Rick Smith spoke at a news conference at City Hall.
The curfew was ordered after a protest at the Plaza Saturday caused some property damage to businesses and some injuries. Police used tear gas to try to disperse crowds and arrested about 85 people, officials said.
The curfew expires at 6 a.m. Monday.
The protests, which began Friday and continued Saturday, were sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Speaking to reporters Sunday, Mayor Quinton Lucas said while the damage seen in Kansas City was not as bad as in other cities, it was “more than we’d want to tolerate in this region.” Police officers and protesters were injured, he said.
“None of that needs to happen,” he said, calling on demonstrators to remain peaceful Sunday.
Chief Smith begged for protesters to stop the damage seen Saturday night.
“Stop destroying our businesses,” Smith said. “Stop destroying our community. Stop destroying our reputation as a city.”
During a police briefing Sunday morning, Smith asked if any police officers in the room did not get hit by an object at the protest. None raised their hands, he said.
“Everyone had been assaulted in some way last night,” Smith told reporters. “Kansas City is better than this.”
Two officers were hospitalized after being struck by objects. One suffered an injury to the temple and the other had a lacerated liver, the Kansas City Police Department said on Twitter.
The Saturday protest drew 400 to 500 people, marking another in a series of protests across the country in the days that followed the death of George Floyd. Floyd died May 25 in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a police officer there, applied his knee to Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes while he lay prone and pleading to breathe while in handcuffs.
By the end of the night, police reported 10 people injured. Protesters threw water bottles at officers, with Capt. David Jackson, a Kansas City Police Department spokesman, estimating more than 100 rocks and bottles were thrown.
Police used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds, with limited success. Some in the crowd said the tear gas was excessive. Several businesses were damaged as police said people were trying to break into them. A squad car was set on fire.
Gov. Mike Parson declared a state of emergency, making available the Missouri National Guard and the Missouri Highway Patrol to support local authorities.
Members of the guard were posted near police headquarters Sunday afternoon. Smith said additional members had not been placed in other areas around the city.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 12:28 PM.
