MINNEAPOLIS — After a quieter night in Minneapolis Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz said Friday that there will be no curfew on Friday.
In a news conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the city council has extended an emergency declaration through Monday morning. While there's no plan to extend curfews, Frey said the declaration gives city leaders the ability to make certain safety decisions.
"We prioritize life. We prioritize safety for all of our residents," Frey said.
The mayor said residents can expect to see an expanded law enforcement presence throughout the city through the weekend. He also said there are no immediate plans to de-mobilize the Minnesota National Guard.
"The priority here is enhanced readiness," Frey said. "We will be prepared for a number of different circumstances that might arise."
Although Thursday night lacked the unrest and looting Minneapolis saw Wednesday, officers still arrested dozens of people after a curfew went into effect in an environment one community leader called a "tinderbox."
According to the Minnesota State Patrol, troopers and DNR officers made 49 arrests overnight across the city. Most were for curfew violations and one was for under 21 consumption. Several knives were confiscated and no injuries were reported.
Minneapolis police spokesperson John Elder also said Thursday night that 30 arrests were made in the first hour of curfew, between 8 and 9 p.m., and one illegal gun was taken away.
Law enforcement presence across the city was increased, and hundreds of Minnesota National Guard soldiers activated, after unrest Wednesday night involving looting and four fires.
The rioting was prompted by rumors about a police shooting on Nicollet Mall Wednesday, after a homicide suspect took his own life while surrounded by police officers.
Minneapolis police released the video of the suicide in order to dispel misinformation, but later took it down "after receiving feedback from the community."
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey enacted a curfew late Wednesday night as police tried to control the crowds, and on Thursday announced that it would again be extended from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter also put a curfew in place Thursday night.
"There is so much distrust in the community and in our city that it's only a small spark to get it started," Donna Morris, program director for A Mother's Love, said Thursday.
The unrest comes days after Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and three months after George Floyd's death under a Minneapolis police officer's knee. Friday, thousands of people are marching to the National Mall for a "Get Off Our Necks" March on Washington.
“You keep telling us that all lives matter," said Pastor Brian Herron of Zion Baptist Church in Minneapolis. "But we keep seeing the evidence that all lives don't matter, because Black lives do not matter. We are sitting on a tinder box."
