Bowser announces DC curfew to start at 11 pm

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) announced Wednesday that the city would be under an 11 p.m. curfew, after 7 p.m. ones Monday and Tuesday as the District grapples with protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

“The public safety recommendation has been that we adjust our curfew tonight,” Bowser said in a press briefing announcing the new curfew. As it has for the previous two days, the curfew will remain in effect through 6 a.m. the next day.

The mayor would not specify whether a curfew would be in place Thursday evening, saying the decision will be made on a day-by-day basis.

“We regard putting a curfew in place as something that’s very serious,” she told reporters.

In the same press briefing Wednesday, Bowser addressed a District of Columbia law allowing the president to take over the Metropolitan Police Department, saying President Trump “has not attempted to make that a reality” and also questioned whether Trump has the legal authority to request National Guard forces from other states.

“I have the authority and have not requested guard from any state,” she added.

We are examining every legal question about the Presidents’ authority to send troops, even National Guard from other states, to the District of Columbia.

I have the authority and have not requested guard from any state. pic.twitter.com/AyKEmp92Jt

— Mayor Muriel Bowser #StayHomeDC (@MayorBowser) June 3, 2020

The mayor also addressed the increased security perimeter around the White House in recent days, saying she believed “that the federal purposes are being stretched.”

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham credited the curfew with “ramping down the violence” in the city and said the majority of arrests thus far had been on charges of curfew violations and had been predominantly people from the D.C. area, including Maryland and Virginia.

Law enforcement’s response to Washington protesters has been under intense scrutiny, particularly after Monday night, when police aggressively cleared peaceful protesters out of Lafayette Square before the 7 p.m. curfew had begun.