Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott Jr. is reinstating a city-wide nighttime curfew starting Monday.
He signed an executive order to restore curfews within the city beginning June 1, occurring nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
According to a press release from the city of Little Rock, the curfew will be implemented tonight due to growing concerns of an increase in COVID-19 cases during large protest gatherings.
In addition, the city received information from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Cody Hiland that “out-of-state antagonists” may pose a threat against First Amendment rights and peaceful protesting in the future.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we are putting in place this curfew to protect our residents from outside forces who seek to do harm to our city and to continue to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Mayor Scott said in a statement. “We respect the rights of residents to peacefully protest and fully expect that they will. We’ll continue to monitor what is happening to determine when the curfew should be lifted.”
More information regarding the curfew is available here.