by: Rachel Van Gilder, digital executive producer,Christa Ferguson
WOOD TV(1:45 p.m.) — During a press briefing Sunday, Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss enacted a civil emergency proclamation, freeing up National Guard resources to protect the city following overnight riots.
City officials said as part of the proclamation, Grand Rapids will be under a curfew for the next 48 hours. Curfew hours are 7 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Grand Rapids was stormed by rioters downtown Saturday night. They broke into businesses and looting them and setting car fires as police tried in vain for hours to get everyone to simply give it up and go home.
The evening started at 6pm with a peaceful protest over the death ofGeorge Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, and police brutality. The crowd was large, but the initial gathering in Rosa Parks Circle — named for an icon of civil disobedience during the civil rights movement — was peaceful.
Later, when the crowd marched down Monroe Center, some stopped in front of Grand Rapids Police Department headquarters. Things got a little tense, but still it was peaceful.
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