BERNIE WEAVER FOR CONGRESS issued the following announcement on July 16.
About 100 people gathered at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park overnight to protest Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren's emergency order to ban large gatherings during certain hours in the city — an order that just went into effect on Wednesday.
Thirty of those attendees — adults who challenged the mayor's order and refused to leave the park when directed to do so by Rochester police — were arrested early Thursday, according to Rochester police.
Warren's order would ban gatherings of five or more people in public places between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The order, which went into effect Wednesday afternoon, also bans indoor gatherings of ten or more people during those hours unless the location is licensed under the Alcohol Beverage Control law.
The move comes during a spike in gun violence, including an incident last weekend in which six people were shot on North Clinton Avenue as police were attempting to disperse a gathering of several hundred people.
Warren and Rochester Police Chief La'Ron Singletary also requested that the New York State Police provide troopers to assist the RPD in enforcing the order. Dozens of troopers are expected to be patrolling city streets by this weekend.
Protesters gathered at the park in Manhattan Square around 10:45 p.m. Wednesday and marched from the park to the area of East Avenue and Alexander Street before returning to the park, where they remained for several hours, said Capt. Naser Zenelovic of the Rochester Police Department.
He said officers asked the crowd to disperse several times over the span of several hours.
“Some protesters obeyed the orders and left the park, but others did not,” Zenelovic said. Around 2 a.m., officers started arresting individuals who refused to leave the park and follow the emergency order, he said.
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