Authorities charged four people in connection with violent clashes between San Antonio police and rioters Saturday night, and Police Chief William McManus promised a heavy police presence downtown to deal with any flare-ups Sunday night.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg imposed a 10 p.m. curfew for the downtown business district that extends until 6 a.m. Monday.
For Alamo Plaza, that curfew began at 6 p.m.
Anyone convicted of violating the order faces the possibility of fines and jail time.
Officers are getting ready to enforce the 6pm curfew here by the Alamo. Some things I’m hearing from the senior officers: “Keep your batons holstered unless you feel threatened.” “Body cameras on.” pic.twitter.com/lm6VHtmu3q
— Krista M. Torralva (@KMTorralva) May 31, 2020
“If the agitators show up, it’s not our intention to stay out of sight,” McManus said Sunday afternoon. “I want them to know that we’re there. I want them there to know that we’re there in force and that we’ll take the action that we need to take if they start destroying property and injuring people.”
As volunteers and city crews took to downtown streets to sweep up broken glass and remove graffiti, city officials counted 39 businesses with broken windows or some kind or other damage.
Taggers spray-painted graffiti in at least 28 spots including the River Walk, La Villita and Hemisfair Park. Several pieces of public art were vandalized or smashed.
“It’s difficult to imagine that the destruction that was caused last night was caused by our residents,” Nirenberg said. “I’m sure we’ll know more in the coming days, but the ugly scenes from late last night certainly didn’t remind me or anyone else of our San Antonio.”
Officials were quick to note that the damage here paled in comparison with that in other U.S. cities swept by protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African-American man, in police custody in Minneapolis.
Floyd, 46, a Houston native, died last Monday night after a police officer sat with his knee pressed against Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
Floyd was unarmed, handcuffed and lying face-down on the pavement at the time. He had been detained on suspicion of using a fake $20 bill to make a purchase at a convenience store.
In video footage shot by onlookers, Floyd can be heard saying repeatedly: “I can’t breathe.”
The officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, who is white, has been fired from the force and was charged Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The conduct of three other officers at the scene is under investigation.
The violence in downtown San Antonio began several hours after the conclusion of a peaceful protest march in Floyd’s memory.
The march drew an estimated 5,000 demonstrators, who walked from Travis Park to San Antonio Police Department headquarters, chanting slogans and carrying placards.
The demonstration concluded around 7 p.m. Hours later, confrontations between protesters and police erupted in the streets near Alamo Plaza. Rocks and bricks were hurled into storefronts along Houston Street. Police responded with tear gas, sound grenades and pepper-spray projectiles.
On ExpressNews.com: Ayala: Let ‘I can’t breathe’ be a rallying cry for change
McManus said Sunday that the department didn’t receive “one single report or complaint of excessive force last night.”
“Considering the amount of police officers that were out there and the level of intensity from the demonstrators, the assaults that they were doing on police officers, that’s pretty remarkable,” McManus said.
Two officers suffered head injuries after being hit with flying bottles, he said.
City officials urged calm Sunday even as they said people were justified in feeling outrage over Floyd’s killing.
“I have two African American young men in my home that I call my sons,” said Councilwoman Jada Andrews-Sullivan, the councl’s only black member, while choking back tears. “We know what it feels like to have that pain. We have to make sure that we protect each other. But we also have to realize that we have a police department that is truly here to protect and serve.”
McManus joined a chorus of U.S. police chiefs who have criticized the Minneapolis officers’ handling of the incident. He called Floyd’s death a “murder.”
City officials expressed hope that Sunday would be the last night a curfew would be necessary.
“We really don’t want to have to use these tools,” Nirenberg said. “But if there are demonstrations, if there are agitators out there, we’re going to do what we need to do to keep the peace.”
On ExpressNews.com: Bexar County sheriff steps up training after death of George Floyd
Police charged four people with crimes related to Saturday’s unrest.
Joe Canales, 44, of Uvalde, was charged with assaulting a police officer, a first-degree felony, along with misdemeanor offenses of rioting, evading and resisting arrest.
Ryatt Ryan Aguilar, 19 of San Antonio, was charged with retaliation, a third-degree felony, and misdemeanor rioting.
Wayne Ray Waldrip III, 21, of San Antonio, was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon, rioting and obstructing roadways — all misdemeanors.
Alejandro Yanez, 17, of San Antonio, was charged with rioting, a misdemeanor.
In addition, police cited Ethan Pulliam for being a pedestrian in the roadway and Davianna Reece for a curfew violation. They gave no other details about the two.
Details of the arrests came as dozens of volunteers poured into downtown early Sunday morning to launch a cleanup effort.
They were armed with brooms, trash bags and paint remover and went to work on streets where police had fired tear gas and pepper spray at protesters just a few hours earlier.
“I couldn’t sleep last night,” said Roxanne Rabago, a San Antonio native who works as a school security officer and watched the events unfold on the news. “It was so bad.”
Rabago and her two sons, 12 and 10, spent the morning sweeping up shattered glass in front of Jimmy John’s restaurant on Houston Street, where someone had hurled an object through the front door.
Her eldest son used a broom they had brought to sweep up the shards, while Rabago knelt on the sidewalk using as a dustpan a cardboard protest sign from the night before. Her youngest boy held the trash bag open for them.
“I don’t want my kids to do it so I need them to see first-hand,” she said.
The brigade of volunteers surprised weary business managers and owners who’d expected to clear glass and board up storefronts on their own.
“All these volunteers, they got here before I did,” said Carley Eddleman, assistant general manager at the Buckhorn Saloon and Museum on Houston Street. “All of these people that are cleaning up Rocket Fizz (a nearby candy shop)? They’re all just volunteers.”
Just after 7 a.m. Sunday, Eddleman carried a case of water bottles out to people sweeping in front of the candy shop. Her own business wasn’t damaged — with the exception of some graffiti — but her Houston Street neighbors bore the brunt of Saturday’s strife.
The night before, she’d watched a video on Facebook that showed people trying to break the window of El Vaquero, a store on the corner of Broadway and Peacock that sells western wear and Texas souvenirs. Bystanders tried to stop them.
“People formed a chain,” she said. “But I think (the people who vandalized the store) came back.”
San Antonio Spurs guard Lonnie Walker walked around downtown Sunday morning handing out water bottles to volunteers helping to clean up the mess. At one point, Walker helped power-wash graffiti from a building at the intersection of Broadway and Houston Street.
“I take great pride in saying I am part of this community,” Walker said. “I am just a regular human being trying to do what we are supposed to do, and that’s bring peace, positivity and joy throughout everybody’s lives.”
On East Market Street, Lillian Garcia-Martinez spent the morning with her 13-year-old son scrubbing graffiti off iron sculptures along a walkway.
“It gets tiresome,” she said. “But I want them to grow up in a clean city the way I saw it.”
Her 13-year-year-old son, Sergio Martinez Jr., added: “Our city.”
Staff writer Tom Orsborn contributed to this report.
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