As the city of Milwaukee turned into something resembling a war zone Saturday night, Mayor Tom Barrett held an emergency midnight press conference, during which he urged parents of anyone at the scene of the “unrest” (i.e., rioting, arson, looting, etc.) to get their kids home immediately.
“If you love your son, if you love your daughter, text them, call them, pull them by their ears, get them home,” he said.
As of Monday night, Barrett won’t be leaving it up to parents to pull their kids’ ears to get them home; instead, the city is imposing a strict 10 p.m. curfew for teens.
MORE: Milwaukee mayor, police chief impose curfew amid unrest https://t.co/MiAvAupDW9 pic.twitter.com/lYn9vXeEX2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 15, 2016
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett just announced a curfew for teenagers starting at 10 pm following nights of unrest in wake of police shooting
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) August 15, 2016
JUST IN: Milwaukee mayor: 10 p.m. curfew for teens to be strictly enforced after 2 nights of unrest over fatal police shooting.
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) August 15, 2016
Milwaukee is imposing a new curfew after the fatal shooting of Sylville K. Smith sparked protests and riots https://t.co/68jrwmEdaT
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) August 15, 2016
First, it’s about time, and second, good luck with that, sincerely. One doesn’t have to look back too far to see similar attempts by the cities of Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore and just how well those worked.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, exactly two years ago tomorrow, announced that demonstrators in Ferguson would have to clear the streets between midnight and 5 a.m. They didn’t, and argued on social media that the curfew was simply a means of giving police free rein to conduct mass arrests and “criminalize protesting murder.”
Hey, look: some are still going with that line.
Milwaukee has a curfew, as is tradition when attempting to crush local resistance.
— [Everyone disliked that.] (@NotE0157H7) August 15, 2016
Local resistance to … a cop shooting a suspect armed with a stolen semi-auto handgun?
About that curfew that the Mayor issued for Milwaukee tonight…N.O.P.E!
— mello (@3yeAmHe) August 15, 2016
Youth rights, y’all!
@MayorOfMKE We will not tolerate ageist curfew laws. Drop the curfew laws or we will follow after you.#youthrights
— Youth Assembly (@usyouthgov) August 15, 2016
Teens can be so sassy. It’s an awkward age.
@MayorOfMKE Your curfew law for teens is unconstitutional and you need to drop it, ir we will drop you.#youthrights
— Elijah Manley (@iElijahManley) August 15, 2016
From the vaults, here’s a look at the streets of Ferguson the night the curfew kicked in.
People are breaking the curfew pic.twitter.com/SOenEv9Ki0
— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) August 17, 2014
Even Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who was criticized for instructing police to hang back and give rioters “space” to destroy after the death of Freddie Gray, attempted to impose a 10 p.m. curfew. Once again from the archives, here’s a shot of the streets about a half-hour after the curfew went into effect:
Explosions at Penn and North pic.twitter.com/WkVt0kXCCi
— Tim Mak (@timkmak) April 29, 2015
Again, best of luck with the curfew in Milwaukee. Teens should be home at night, especially considering that even journalists covering the rioting have been assaulted, and one has announced he’s packing up and getting out, saying “it’s not safe if you’re white to be here.”
https://twitter.com/AblativMeatshld/status/765285387245723648
Curfew? Break out the rubber bullets https://t.co/QdGqLz3Ezg
— PissedOffPeasant (@mikepfingston2) August 15, 2016
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