- Credibility:
CHICAGO — Chicago’s controversial 9 p.m. curfew has been lifted, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Sunday.
The 9 p.m.-6 a.m. daily curfew was imposed last week, when the city was rocked by looting and vandalism amid largely peaceful protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
But Lightfoot lifted it Sunday, announcing the change in a tweet.
“I know this time in our city and our country has been difficult for us all, and I’m grateful to our residents for working together to navigate this challenging time,” Lightfoot said in the tweet.
The curfew has been highly controversial. It was announced just a half-hour before it was set to begin May 30, and many people didn’t know it was in place until after it had gone into effect.
It was heavily criticized by people who said it was an overreach and was being used to keep peaceful protesters indoors.
The American Civil Liberties Union even threatened legal action. In a Sunday statement, the group said the curfew “invited discriminatory enforcement” of communities of color.
“The limitation went on too long and caused disruption for too many of the city’s residents, including those protesting anti-Black racism and police violence, journalists, people experiencing homelessness and essential workers,” the group said in a statement. “As we said the night the curfew was put in place, the indefinite and vague nature of the curfew invited discriminatory enforcement against Black and Brown communities in the city.”
The ACLU and Black Lives Matter-L.A. sued over a curfew in Los Angeles Thursday, leading the city to abandon its curfew.
Lightfoot said Friday it wasn’t easy to impose the curfew, but she did so after talking with Police Supt. David Brown, “with other leaders and prayer.”
“No mayor should ever impose a curfew unless there’s an absolute necessity of doing so and after a lot of consultation, which is precisely what I did,” Lightfoot said. “Every single day since I’ve spent time consulting with those same folks, in particular our superintendent, [asking]: ‘Is this necessary? Is this needed?’ Every single day.”
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