Mayhem in Manhattan, shops looted as New York curfew fails to stop unrest amid George Floyd protests
- Stores looted in New York City, despite curfew to curb George Floyd protests
- Mayor Bill de Blasio said curfew would be moved to 8pm on Tuesday
New York City imposed a late-night curfew Monday that failed to prevent another night of destruction, including arrests at the iconic Macy’s store on 34th Street, following protests over George Floyd’s death.
With an 11pm to 5am curfew, New York joined other cities around the country in imposing such measures after days of unrest. The limit on a city of more than 8 million people comes after months of restrictions already imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But enough mayhem happened before the curfew took effect that Mayor Bill de Blasio tweeted that it would move up to 8pm on Tuesday.
As the deadline to get off the streets approached, bands of protesters marched through Manhattan and Brooklyn, and police simultaneously responded to numerous reports of roving groups of people smashing their way into shops and emptying them of merchandise.
The doors of Macy’s flagship Manhattan store were breached, and police pulled two handcuffed men out and put them in a van.
People rushed into a Nike store in Manhattan and carried out armloads of clothing. Near Rockefeller Centre, storefront windows were smashed and multiple people arrested. Wreckage littered the inside of an AT&T store.