NYers Plan 'Outdoor Moment' Protest For Minutes After 8pm Curfew

NEW YORK, NY — Some New Yorkers will use an 8 p.m. curfew imposed on the city Tuesday as another chance to protest police violence, simply by stepping outside their homes.

Hundreds of New Yorkers have signed onto a Facebook event asking city dwellers to step outside at 8:01 p.m. and stand, or kneel, for nine minutes to represent the nine minutes a police officer kept his knee on George Floyd's neck before he died.

The nine minutes of silence in defiance of an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew will be the latest demonstration in what has been a week of protests against police brutality spurred by Floyd's death. Organizers say it could become a nightly tradition as long as the curfew remains.

"The idea for the silent protest started with one thought 'What if every single NYer just walked right outside their homes when the curfew hit, and in that simple act of resistance, we send peaceful energy to all of us impacted by police violence?' Rigodis Appling, an attorney and one of four organizers of the event told Patch. "This was a conversation we were having on social media and we decided to act on it"

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Mayor Bill de Blasio most recently announced the curfew will extend each night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. until Sunday. He and Gov. Andrew Cuomo first enacted a curfew on Monday, hoping it would quell looting and vandalism seen across New York City for several nights in a row.

De Blasio and Cuomo also doubled the police force on New York City streets from 4,000 to 8,000 officers.

Organizers of the "Outdoor Moment of Silent Resistance," though, contend that the curfew does more to protect property than people.

"Our communities' right to safety and justice is more important than property," organizers wrote on Facebook. "...We demand an end to the curfew. We demand the right to protest without fear of state retribution."

The group's specific demands include repealing a law known as 50-a, which shields police officers' disciplinary records from being released to the public, and reducing the NYPD's nearly $6-billion budget.

"We don’t need more police. We need services, especially in light of the disastrous impact of COVID on our community," Appling said.

The organizers said New Yorkers who want to participate in the curfew protest can do so from their balconies, porches, garden, rooftop or other places outside.

They are encouraged to use the hashtags #blackouttuesday #unitedwestand and #cheerstopeace to share photos or videos of participating, organizer Eli Servance III said.

Service estimated that more than 1,000 people will participate Tuesday. More than 900 had said on Facebook they were either participating or interested in doing so as of 5:30 p.m.