AKRON, Ohio — Akron has reinstated its downtown curfew after protesters turned violent late Wednesday night.

Demonstrators are protesting the police shooting of Jayland Walker, 25, have marched through the city for the past five days, at times peacefully, and other times setting fire to dumpsters, overturning planter boxes and smashing out business storefronts.

Walker, an unarmed Black man, was shot multiple times by police after a chase that ended up with Walker dead in a parking lot. Walker was fleeing a traffic stop, police said.

What You Need To Know

  • The city has reinstated its downtown curfew

  • Protesters became violent again late Wednesday night

  • Demonstrators are protesting the police shooting of 25-year-old Jayland Walker

  • The curfew is in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. until the city revokes it

The Akron curfew will be in effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. until the city lifts the order.

People are prohibited from being in any public place downtown between those hours except:

  • Law enforcement, fire and medical personnel and members of the news media
  • Personnel authorized by the city and the state or individuals exempt under the law
  • People traveling directly between their place of work and their residence
  • People traveling to seek medical care
  • People fleeing from dangerous circumstances

The city also will close High and Bowery streets to University Avenue every night from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Violating the curfew is a fourth-degree misdemeanor and could generate fines as much as $350, the city said.

Mayor Dan Horrigan first initiated the curfew Monday, July 4 and cancelled the city’s fireworks after protestors became violent late Sunday night.

The city and the Akron Police Department had released police body-worn camera footage of the Walker shooting earlier that day.

Protests were peaceful Tuesday so Horrigan lifted the curfew by 6 a.m. Wednesday. Late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning demonstrators again became violent, likely triggering reinstatement of the curfew.

Several people were arrested, including Bianca Austin and Jacob Blake Sr., who both live out of state.

Austin, whose arrest records show a Louisville, Kentucky address, is the aunt of Breonna Taylor, a Black woman fatally shot by Louisville police in 2020, during a botched, forced-entry raid on her apartment. address.

Blake, who records show lives in North Carolina, is the father of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was seriously injured by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.

Austin and Blake were charged with rioting, disorderly conduct and failure to disperse. Blake was also charged with resisting arrest.

Earlier Thursday, activist groups issued a list of demands to the city and stated protesters would continue to march until the demands were met. 

 

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