Fort Worth ends 8 p.m. curfew after unanimous City Council decision
Fort Worth’s curfew ended at 5 p.m. Thursday, by unanimous agreement from City Council.
The curfew was enacted by Mayor Betsy Price Monday, the day after police used tear gas on protesters who were attempting to cross the 7th Street Bridge onto the west side. The curfew forbade people from being outside between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. Similar curfews were enacted in Dallas and Denton.
The last three nights, protesters have continued to gather downtown and at West 7th Street. Although portions of the crowd have lingered after 8 p.m., police have not used flash bangs, smoke or tear gas to get them to disperse.
At a press conference Thursday morning, Fort Worth clergy and civil rights activists called for the curfew to end. Businesses also questioned why the curfew needed to continue, given the protests’ peaceful nature and the financial setbacks they’ve incurred because of coronavirus closures.
Dain “Adam” Jones said an extended curfew could be a “nail in the coffin” for bars, which were recently allowed to open at 50 percent capacity.
The decision to end the curfew gained wide support from attendees at the meeting, many of whom had visited City Council to speak against it. Several speakers described their experiences at the protests, noting they saw danger only from the police officers. Resident Bill Michaels said, “the curfew is illegal,” and the crowd responded by saying “power to the people.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 3:29 PM.
