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Green Bay council extends curfew

By Heather Graves
Correspondent


GREEN BAY – Green Bay will continue to be under a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew until Monday, June 8, after the city council voted to extend the citywide curfew following a tense discussion at its meeting Tuesday, June 2.

The curfew was originally enacted on Monday, June 1, after peaceful protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd turned violent, leaving buildings damaged, businesses looted, shots fired and several individuals cited.

Police Chief Andrew Smith requested the extension, saying it gives “officers a tool to control the people that are out there just to cause trouble. It is putting everyone in danger – including themselves.”

Smith said on Sunday night, May 31, five squad cars were damaged between the Green Bay Police Department and the Brown County Sheriff’s Department, windows were broken throughout the downtown area, individuals were pounding on cars and terrorizing people, and he personally put out three separate fires that had been started in trash cans.

“It was a cat-and-mouse game, because we simply didn’t have enough people,” he said.

Mayor Eric Genrich supported the extension saying the events he witnessed on Sunday night were “incredibly disturbing.”

“We are very lucky that we didn’t experience a loss of life in the city,” he said. “I witnessed things that I never anticipated seeing in the City of Green Bay. I am 110-percent in favor of people demonstrating peaceably, exercising their First Amendment rights. There is no reason, however, why they can’t do that within the hours that are available to them within the confines of this curfew.”

The motion passed with an 8-4 vote.

Alders Barbara Dorff, Bill Galvin, Craig Stevens, Jesse Brunette, John VanderLeest, Randy Scannell, Kathy Lefebvre and Lynn Gerlach voted in favor.

Alders Veronica Corpus-Dax, Chris Wery, Brian Johnson and Mark Steuer voted against.

Those in favor of the extension admitted they were torn.

The majority of alders encouraged peaceful protests during the day, but want to prevent a repeat of Sunday night’s events.

“What we saw happen downtown, I’ve never seen here, in our community,” said District 4 Alder Galvin said. “I’m concerned that we put ourselves in a position that we aren’t able to respond and do what needs to be done to maintain control and protect our citizens. If it’s predictable, it’s preventable.”

Alders against the extension say it violates the rights of both protesters and other residents.

“We shouldn’t be punishing the protesters, and, quite honestly, we shouldn’t be punishing the City of Green Bay for the acts of a few people,” Corpus-Dax said.

Dajahnae Williams, a resident who has participated in the protests, was visually upset during Tuesday’s meeting, telling alders the curfew will continue to do more harm than good.

“People are not happy with this curfew,” she said. “It is agitating the crowd. The crowd was peaceful for most of the weekend. People feel oppressed. I feel like this curfew is an example of why they want to protest in the first place, because we’re supposed to be seen and be heard.”

Genrich, with input from Smith and Fire Chief Dave Litton, has the authority to lift the curfew earlier if they believe it is unneeded.

Other communities enact curfews

At least three municipalities in Brown County outside of Green Bay enacted curfews that were scheduled to end before Friday, June 5, in response to civil unrest in the area.

Ashwaubenon released a statement saying a curfew was in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. June 1-8,

Allouez released a similar statement saying a curfew was in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. June 3-8. 

Bellevue released a statement saying a curfew was in place from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. June 1-3, and it was not ready to extend as of Wednesday afternoon. 

All three issued proclamations declaring a state of emergency.

Ashwaubenon’s proclamation said in the late hours of May 31 and into June 1, “several riotous individuals continued to endanger the health, safety, welfare, and good order in the greater Green Bay area and the Village of Ashwaubenon by engaging in unlawful activity unrelated to any peaceful protest. Such activity included, but was not limited to, the increased percent of various vehicles containing multiple individuals with prepared incendiary weapons such as a Molotov cocktail. Further, activity has continued thereafter with credible threats of damage and looting to area businesses and National Football League facilities.”

Expanded operations, click and collect

The Green Bay council adopted a proclamation that allows businesses to temporarily expand their operations, including alcohol sales outdoors, and being on parking lots and sidewalks, to maximize service area while practicing social distancing.

The proclamation, which ends Dec. 31, 2020, also creates an expedited review process for the expansions.

The proclamation also extends the city’s state of emergency through June 30.

Alders also approved a new ordinance, the Click and Collect ordinance, which now allows retailers to provide online sales and curbside pickup of alcohol.

Interested establishments would need to submit a request with the city clerk to amend the liquor license premises description to include a portion of the establishment’s parking lot for pick up.

Requests would be sent to the Protection and Policy Committee, and require approval by the full council.

A spokesman from Festival Foods said stores in Bellevue, Suamico and De Pere, along with many other Wisconsin communities, already allow this.

Though the decision is timely in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is a permanent ordinance.

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