As curfew takes effect, KCPD says it will not take action unless peace is disrupted
Update: Soon after the curfew took affect, Kansas City police fired tear gas into the crowd of hundreds of protesters. That story is posted here.
As Kansas City’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, demonstrators protesting the police killings of black men, racism and other issues continued to chant as they had for hours.
“Hands up, don’t shoot!” they shouted minutes earlier.
Eleven minutes after the curfew, the Kansas City Police Department encouraged everyone to go home, but it said officers would not take enforcement action unless “the peace is disrupted.”
One of the protesters spoke through a megaphone to address the police. She said they were there to assemble peacefully.
As the clock hit 8 p.m., most protesters had moved off of the street but remained in the park near the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain.
Earlier in the day, Capt. David Jackson, a police spokesman, said the department hoped protesters would go home at 8 p.m.
“If that doesn’t happen, then we’ll evaluate the totality of the circumstances,” he said.
Before the curfew, Henry C. Service, an organizer with the protest group Enough is Enough, called the regulation “artificial” and said it was a way to stifle dissent. He expressed disappointment in Mayor Quinton Lucas’s decision to impose the curfew.
A few minutes after the curfew, Bishop Mark Tolbert, 64, said Colin Kaepernick, who previously played for the San Francisco 49ers, knelt peacefully. But society did not hear him.
“I hope they hear this,” Tolbert said.
The thousands of people gathered Sunday at the Country Club Plaza, intermittently breaking into cheers and chants, in a third day of protest sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Two people were arrested who were in the street, police said about 7 p.m., an hour before a city-ordered curfew was to take effect for the Plaza, Westport, downtown business districts and city parks.
The curfew was ordered after a protest at the Plaza on Saturday caused property damage to businesses and 10 injuries. Police used tear gas to try to disperse crowds and arrested about 85 people, officials said.
On Sunday, police said about 6:30 p.m. that officers had closed roads in the Plaza, Midtown and Westport area to accommodate marching protesters. Police asked drivers to take alternate routes.
Service said the goals of the protest included getting Kansas City police to use body-worn cameras and the establishment of local control over the police department.
Along Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard, a group of protesters knelt before a line of officers and chanted “stand with us, march with us.”
One person held a sign that said “If you think it’s hard to breathe with a mask on try being black in America.”
Early in the afternoon, people began gathering near the J.C Nichols Memorial Fountain at Mill Creek Park. Some held signs for passing motorists to see. Many drivers honked their horns in support.
As the protest continued, large groups of demonstrators broke away from the main protest area, marching down Main Street while chanting “black lives matter.”
The curfew expires at 6 a.m. Monday.
The Saturday protest drew about 1,000 people, marking another in a series of demonstrations across the U.S. in the days after a now-fired Minneapolis police officer was seen in a video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who died. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder.
Protesters Saturday threw water bottles at officers, with police 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. Police Chief Rick Smith said additional members had not been placed in other areas around the city.
This story was originally published May 31, 2020 at 8:24 PM.
