Rochester police charge 30 protesters with violating city's new curfew 

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Rochester police charged 30 people under the city's new curfew on large gatherings after they gathered at Martin Luther King Jr. Park to protest that curfew.

The protesters were all charged with misdemeanors under state executive law for allegedly violating an emergency order announced Wednesday by Mayor Lovely Warren. They were all issued appearance tickets, according to police.
The curfew, which officials implemented in response to recent violent incidents, prohibits public gatherings of more than five people and private gatherings of more than 10 unrelated people between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Free the People Roc responded to Wednesday's announcement by organizing a protest that started at 10 p.m. and was to last until 5 a.m.  Police said officers gave the protesters several warnings to disperse before they began arresting and charging people around 2 a.m.

"This curfew is yet another tactic used to criminalize Black & Brown bodies in our city, and we will not let this happen," organizers said on the protest's Facebook event page.
On Monday, a new coalition of activists, artists, and community workers gathered to call on the city to respond to recent violence not with increased policing, but with increased investment in struggling neighborhoods. Specifically, they called on elected officials to direct more funding to people and Black-run grassroots organizations in those neighborhoods.

“We believe that we can heal our communities, we can enact solutions to our problems, and we demand the economic resources to do so,” activist and musician Danielle Ponder said during a press conference Monday.

Jeremy Moule is CITY's news editor. He can be reached at [email protected].