The city of Raleigh lifted its curfew and state of emergency on Monday, a week after it was imposed on residents.
“The removal of the curfew is not an indication we have solved our challenges,” Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said in a press release announcing the end of the curfew. “There is still much work to do. All of us, working together, must ensure that racism has no place in our city’s future."
The city’s curfew began on June 1 after protests over the death of George Floyd included confrontations with police who used tear gas. As protesters dispersed, roving groups also smashed windows at businesses and set fires in garbage cans and on sidewalks. Baldwin says the curfew was to protect the community and prevent any violence.
Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, died May 25 after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck. More than 10,000 people gathered in Raeford, N.C. on Saturday to remember and pay their respects to Floyd. He was born in Fayetteville, which had also enacted a curfew.
Greensboro did too, but Mayor Nancy Vaughan rescinded it on Monday, according to WFDD.
In Raleigh, there was no property damage, injuries and only a few people were arrested at protests after the 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew was imposed, the press release said, according to the Raleigh News & Observer.
