After a night of heavy-handed riot police response to pockets of youthful protestors in its gentrified downtown, Raleigh mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin announced an absolute curfew on Monday, June 1, 2020, starting at 8:00 pm. Under the curfew, no one is permitted to leave their home or be on the streets for any reason other than a medical emergency throughout the city limits, which stretch over a 150-mile area.
The curfew stands in stark contrast to the more measured response to Covid-19 by the city, which is experiencing a marked spike in infection and deaths after the state of North Carolina’s “Phase 2” reopening last week and acquiescence to the small ReOpenNC movement. ReOpenNC, composed of no more than a handful of people, decried the economic impact on business owners due to the state’s shutdown of non-essential services because of the virus, citing the Constitution and the Second Amendment.
Neither Baldwin nor Governor Roy Cooper, both Democrats, emerged to meet protestors on Sunday night, even though much of the protest was situated directly in front of the governor’s mansion. But Baldwin spoke directly to news outlets during the protest, saying she was “heart-broken” over smashed storefront windows and damage to businesses in the city’s downtown as she vowed to instill a curfew the following morning.
