As protests continue to take place around the country, Riverside County has declared a local emergency and set a curfew of 6 pm to 6 am Monday through Tuesday morning. The department said in a press release that the curfew is in response to “several areas of rioting and looting in Southern California over the weekend, as well as planned protests set to occur today in Riverside County.”
The curfew will not apply to residents who must leave their homes to attend essential work or business after 6 pm. “We want the community to be able to peacefully assemble and exercise their first amendment rights,” County Executive Officer and Director of Emergency Services George Johnson said in the release (via the Desert Sun). “We must also take action to protect our community from threats of rioting and chaos. If you plan to visit a protest today, we urge you to do so peacefully and return home at the time of the curfew.”
The County of Riverside has declared a 6pm curfew. For further details, click here: https://t.co/ck6ebYaiid pic.twitter.com/p6AdN9pUFM
— Riverside County Sheriff's Dept (@RSO) June 1, 2020
One peaceful protest took place in Palm Springs Monday morning:
Thank you to everyone gathered today for being peaceful and respectful. We support and stand with you. pic.twitter.com/SnmZOjvGj1
— Palm Springs PD (@PalmSpringsPD) June 1, 2020
Two more are planned in the Coachella Valley on Monday evening – with one in Indio and another in Palm Desert. Organizers of the Palm Desert protest recently posted that it was changing locations from a business district in the city to a park. The change of locations comes as rumors on social media swirled as people and local business leaders posted thst “buses filled with protestors” were headed in from out of town, with some social media postings warning that the buses had arrived as early as Sunday night.
There have been no confirmed sightings of buses of protestors at the time of this posting.
Update: The Indio vigil has now been postponed. There is also a protest planned in the city of Riverside this evening, which likely also contributed to the county deciding to impose a curfew.
The city of Palm Desert posted in response to the planned protest in the city, saying that safety and security is “the city’s number one priority.” The city also encouraged that we “all work together peacefully” to ensure an incident similar to the death of George Floyd doesn’t happen in Palm Desert or other communities.
From the Palm Desert City Council:
The City ’s number one priority is the safety and security of our community. We respect the democratic right to demonstrate peacefully and want to ensure the safety of any demonstrators as well as our residents, workers, and visitors. 1 of 3— City of Palm Desert (@PalmDesertGov) June 1, 2020
From the Palm Desert City Council:
To that end, we are temporarily closing El Paseo to vehicle traffic during a planned event on June 1, 2020. 2 of 3— City of Palm Desert (@PalmDesertGov) June 1, 2020
From the Palm Desert City Council:
What happened to Mr. Floyd was wrong, this was a tragedy and we should all work together peacefully to ensure that nothing like this ever happens in Palm Desert or in any other community. 3 of 3— City of Palm Desert (@PalmDesertGov) June 1, 2020
