Protests that erupted upon the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis officer who knelt on his neck for over eight minutes continued in the District for the third consecutive night, along with vandalism and a number of fires hitting some businesses.
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser ordered a citywide curfew from 11 pm on Sunday, May 31 through 6 am on Monday, June 1, exempting credentialed members of the media from the ban so that they could continue covering the events in the city. However, many DC residents took to the streets, flouting the curfew.
“We are seeing many peaceful demonstrations in our city, however, we also have experienced intentional destruction. So far, we have made 88 arrests last night into the early morning hours. What we have endured as a city has been unprecedented but we will persevere,” the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced on Monday.
MPD is currently responding to multiple fires intentionally set around the city, including at St. John’s Episcopal Church in the 1500 blk of H Street, NW, with @dcfireems . This church has been standing in our city since the early 1800s. Please avoid the area. https://t.co/8BeINZ5IYk
— DC Police Department (@DCPoliceDept) June 1, 2020
According to the MPD, among the multiple sites around the District of Columbia where fires were “intentionally set” are St. John’s Episcopal Church in the 1500 blk of H Street, Northwest, and the AFL-CIO building on 16th Street and I Street, Northwest. DC Fire and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) responded to them with the MPD.
Police also announced that they made a number of arrests during an incident as part of the protests on 5/30 & 5/31 in DC. They are also still seeking the public’s assistance to identify other suspects.
On Saturday night, a total of 11 MPD officers were injured by thrown objects. Their injuries were non-life threatening, but a sergeant suffered a serious leg fracture and underwent a surgery.