Orlando has taken a page from the playbook of South Africa’s formerly racist apartheid government to stop police brutality protesters.
The city has imposed a special early curfew on part of downtown and the historically black Parramore community. That curfew starts at 8 p.m. Wednesday (6/3). Curfews were one of the tactics the racist white South African government tried to suppress activists in black townships.
The curfew for the rest of the city and Orange County begins at 10 p.m. The 10 p.m. curfew was re-imposed Sunday by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
The 8 p.m. curfew area is from West Colonial to State Road 408 and Tampa Avenue to Summerlin Avenue. In addition to Parramore, the curfew area includes much of the downtown entertainment and dining area and Eola Heights and Thornton Park.
The new measures were imposed after 4 nights of demonstrations in the wake of the high-profile murder of George Lloyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Demonstrations on Tuesday night that traveled through the Parramore community and ended up at City Hall ended up with tear gas used on the crowd. Those in the multi-racial crowd said the demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful. There were a few white males in the crowd suspected to be members of the Boogalu Boys -- provocateurs who stir up trouble so black people will be blamed.
Police said at one point some members of the crowd pelted officers with objects. However, demonstrators said problems really started when police riot squads use barriers, shields and bicycles to trap people trying to leave the events. This controversial tactic is known as “kettling”. Frequently this tactic sweeps up innocent people who weren’t causing trouble. It also violates the 1st Amendment, which guarantees people the right to peacefully assemble to share their concerns with government leaders.
Several demonstration participants – who don’t know each other -- told us that many officers (dressed in riot gear) were needlessly aggressive.
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