East St. Louis city officials implement a curfew as a precaution in case of unrest
East St. Louis leaders have implemented a daily curfew starting Tuesday night as a precaution to protect citizens and businesses against the kinds of disturbances that have happened in other cities across the nation this past week.
“While the City Council and I realize this may be an inconvenience for some, we must do everything within our power to protect residents and our corporate citizens from the violence and property damage we have seen throughout the country,” Mayor Robert Eastern said.
The curfew is from 10 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. Starting Wednesday, the curfew is from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily.
City Manager Brooke Smith said the curfew will remain in place until it is deemed safe enough for city leaders to rescind it.
“The past few days have resulted in conditions of disaster or extreme peril to persons and property nationwide,” Smith said.
“We are working hard to keep our community safe during these challenging times, and we urge everyone to abide by the curfew and remain indoors during these hours,” Smith said.
Communities nationwide have had daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man, who died last week after a white police officer in Minneapolis pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. The police officer has been fired and charged with murder.
The unrest has erupted into violence and looting in some cities at night. East St. Louis has not experienced any of the unrest, and city leaders said its curfew has been set as a precaution.
