FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Fort Lauderdale and Broward County will be under curfew again from 9 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday as police monitor chatter about possible future protests.
The county says the decision is “in response to credible reports of possible civil unrest that could potentially threaten the health, safety and welfare of the people of Broward County.”
The county’s curfew order remains in place through June 7, though they will continue to assess the need for a curfew on a daily basis and could lift it before then.
“We’re going to base our information on what the police report and what our intelligence tell us as far as where these groups are organizing again,” Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said Monday morning.
The city and county enacted curfews Sunday night when largely peaceful afternoon protests were followed by unrest in the evening in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
“Other elements came in and basically worked to tarnish, in my mind, what was accomplished earlier,” Broward County Mayor Dale Holness said.
“I was disappointed that what was a day long peaceful protest ended with violence. The underlying issue is inequity. A huge disparity of wealth. We must come together and fix that problem” @HolnessD9 tells @WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/YlNvyK8Hha
— Broward County Commission (@browardinfo) June 1, 2020
Things took a turn in the evening after many protesters had already left. Because of that unrest, authorities are standing by, businesses are cleaning up from the vandalism and police are monitoring outside forces looking to cause more chaos.
“We hear the internet chatter,” Trantalis said. “Saturday night we found out that they were going to go to the Galleria Mall and they were going to start looting there. Our police officers surrounded the mall. They escaped, knowing they were going to be trapped in there by police.”
Sawgrass Mills, Aventura Mall and Boca Raton’s Town Center mall all closed early Monday afternoon as a precaution.
Under the rules of the Broward curfew, “no person is allowed to use any street or sidewalk in Broward County for any purpose, except for active duty police, fire rescue, first responders and medical, health care and utility service personnel.”
People are, however, allowed to travel directly to and from their home and their work during those hours, and residents can walk their pets near their homes.
Broward’s full curfew order can be read here.