Palm Beach among last to lift curfew
Miami-Dade joins as the final two counties to ease restrictions
The curfews that locked South Floridians in their homes during a week of social justice protests are over.
Curfews were enacted when demonstrations grew violent in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties, as well as countless other cities nationwide after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
But curfews have begun to ease in recent days as protests grew more peaceful. Broward’s curfew was lifted last week after three days. Miami-Dade County and West Palm Beach became among the last to lift curfews Monday.
Thousands of people demonstrated peacefully last weekend all over South Florida, waving signs near an upscale shopping destination in Boca Raton, chanting on Hollywood Boulevard and marching with a band on the streets of Riviera Beach.
The end of the curfew in Miami-Dade also will mean the reopening of beaches, which closed for the coronavirus crisis and re
mained closed during the curfew. They will be allowed to reopen Wednesday.
“This early notice gives coastal municipalities time to prepare for reopening these spaces,” a county official said.
In West Palm Beach, Mayor Keith James said he was glad to ease restrictions to help businesses that were already struggling from being closed for so long because
of the new coronavirus.
“There were several demonstrations where we didn’t have any issues,” He said. “Was it because of the curfew? I don’t know.”
West Palm Beach’s curfew began May 31 when a demonstration that began with a small number of people turned into a crowd of 3,000, according to a statement from the city.
As the hours wore on, about 60 people “began to destroy property, jumped on traveling vehicles of motorists
attempting to navigate through roadways, and throwing rocks and bottles at officers.” Windows were broken at multiple businesses, and trash cans were set on fire.
Police turned to rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd. Five people were arrested.
Perhaps the only community left with a curfew is the town of Palm Beach, and it, too, was adjusting its plans. Its curfew was changed Sunday night to begin at midnight instead of 9 p.m.
because protests in neighboring West Palm Beach have been peaceful, a police spokesman said Monday.
The town has had some type of curfew since March 17 because of the coronavirus and has changed it several times.
Still, “closures and curfews will be reevaluated throughout the coming week and could be reinstituted if threats of violence or property damage are anticipated,” the police chief posted on the town’s website late Sunday.