■ Lake explains its curfew and prepares for Clermont protests.
County officials aimed to protect local businesses
Lake County officials said Tuesday they imposed a curfew on Sunday evening because of “credible threats” over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“The point of this is to facilitate the peaceful assembly of people while at the same time protecting our businesses,” Lake County Commission Chairman Leslie Campione said during the commission meeting Tuesday morning.
The curfew runs from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. until lifted, the county said in a news release on Sunday night. It applies to all cities and unincorporated areas unless a municipality imposes a stricter curfew.
A protest is planned from 3 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Waterfront Park in Clermont. Police said they “will be on scene to protect the right to peacefully protest, as well as to protect life and property.”
Clermont police said there were indications of a second protest might take place about the same time at State Road 50 and Hancock Road.
Campione also another key reason for the curfew was because “our first responders are stretched and stressed” because of the coronavirus pandemic, raising concerns about the impact of a “riot-type situation” at this moment.
“We are outraged just as is the rest of the county is … we want all of those hard questions asked,” Campione said at the meeting. “This should have never happened and we condemn it.
“We also condemn the activities, the lawlessness we've seeing on our TVs every night … That simply can not strand.”
The emergency order exempts people traveling to and from work to their business or home. Violation could lead to a fine or prison sentence.
Although large protests occurred in Orlando, there were no reports of them in Lake, other than the ones planned in Clermont on Wednesday. Orlando imposed a similar curfew on Sunday, which Campione said raised concerns that protests might slip over from Orange County.
Protests across the nation started last week after video emerged of a black man, George Floyd, who died while police were arresting him in Minneapolis. A police officer had his knee on Floyd's neck for more than 8 minutes before he died.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who was later fired, has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder.
Earlier Sunday, State Rep. Anthony Sabatini, Republican of Howey-in-the-Hills, tweeted, next to a photo of the weapion: “Attention potential ‘protesters' coming near Lake County, FL. This is an AR-15 — this will be a very common sight upon illegal entry at any Lake County business—FYI!”