Santa Maria Mayor announces citywide curfew following Sunday night’s protest

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino addressed the protests that took place in the city this weekend.

The news conference began at 3 p.m. in City Hall during which she announced a citywide curfew in response to the violence that ravaged Town Center Mall Sunday night.

Santa Maria Police Chief Phil Hansen and Lawanda Lyons-Pruitt, president of the Santa Maria-Lompoc NAACP, were also in attendance.

Mayor Patino reminded the community not to lose sight of the purpose for Sunday afternoon's peaceful demonstration.

Sunday evening, however, saw more violent protesters which led to the ravaging of Town Center Mall.

In order to help protect the city's residents and businesses from future violence, the city instated a curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. effective immediately until Monday, June 8.

Exemptions from the curfew include: people traveling to and from work, anyone seeking emergency medical care, news media representatives, law enforcement personnel, firefighting personnel, emergency healthcare providers, emergency medical personnel and civilians engaging in police or emergency work.

Tens of thousands of protestors took to the streets across the country on Sunday. Many were peaceful demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the black community.

However, many of these protests have also been overshadowed by those who choose violence and destruction. People ravaged, destroyed and looted many businesses in cities from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.

Other cities and states enacted curfews as a way to prevent this destruction. Police officers from other counties were brought in and some even deployed National Guard soldiers.