Monique Dixon, senior policy counsel for criminal justice at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF), said that arrests during the Baltimore protests became particularly aggressive after the city implemented a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew May 1 and police officers reduced the buffer time allowed for citizens to return home.
“Things changed Friday and Saturday night [May 1 and 2], when 10 o’clock struck and people were in the street,” Dixon said. “Police didn’t give community members the time from before.”
She said police shifted to allowing just five to 10 minutes of buffer before making arrests. LDF officials, along with partners, were serving as legal observers to the protests, watching for potential conflict between police and the public. Dixon said 13 observers were arrested, despite wearing clothing that indicated their observer status. Most of the people who received citations for curfew violations have been released, Dixon said.
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