SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio’s leaders, such as the mayor, the police chief and City Manager Erik Walsh held a press conference late Saturday to address the aftermath of the downtown protests.
Just hours later, San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh joined GMSA Sunday morning on KSAT’s Leading S.A segment where he further discussed the damages from the overnight mayhem.
“You know, last night was a series of destructive events that was really done by a small group of individuals, and I don’t mean in terms of numbers. We had over 5,000 people downtown last night and we had a peaceful demonstration. And the organizers of that, of that march, did exactly what they said they were going to do,” Walsh said.
Walsh solidified that the protests began as peaceful.
"As night started to fall, I’d say there was a different element that came out and was intent on being destructive to our own downtown city, and they were successful. I think the police department did a very good job of restraining,” Walsh said.
Eventually, city leadership issued a disaster declaration and a curfew for Saturday and Sunday.
“The mayor implemented a curfew last night beginning at 11:30 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. this morning; we’ve also got it in place for tonight from 10:00 p.m. to 6 o’clock Monday morning. The idea is to give the police department additional tools to be able to ensure that folks are not out on the streets within the central business district. And if they are, at the officers discretion, can utilize that curfew to either arrest or move folks along,” Walsh said.
The curfew is meant just for downtown, and there are several stipulations the public should know.
“I do want to point out that that the curfew does have provisions in it to accommodate for folks that are going to work or have official business. The chief said last night at the press conference of the idea isn’t that they were that they’re stopping everybody, but they do want to keep the streets clear this evening,” Walsh said.
Anyone in violation of the curfew may be fined up to $1,000 and spend up to 180 days in jail.
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