DOVER, Del.- Sunday saw peaceful protests by more than 200 demonstrators in Downtown Dover over the death of George Floyd but ended with the city instituting a curfew and state of emergency after a large crowd of people streamed up U.S. Route 13 and a few stores were broken into.
The day's events began with more than 200 people gathering outside Legislative Hall and the Dover Police Department headquarters. Speakers at city police headquarters stood on the steps of the building's front entrance, calling for better treatment of black men and women by police.
Many of those in attendance carried signs held up signs with phrases like "Black Lives Matter" or "We will not be Silenced" as speakers took turns delivering emotional messages over a megaphone.
"We don't want to fight. We don't want to destroy our city because we need it. We just want to show everybody that we care---that we're here to make things better," said DeAndre Valentine, the main organizer of the event.
Dover City Councilman Ralph Taylor briefly took up the megaphone and said the men and women of the Dover Police Department were dedicated public servants who treat everyone fairly, but also acknowledged that larger discussions on race and fair treatment could occur between the protesters and city leaders can happen.
"We are not Minneapolis. We do not have these issues. We have good police officers---very good police officers," he said in an interview with WBOC.
The demonstrations were similar to others that have taken place in cities and towns across the country. They began in Minneapolis following the death of Floyd, who was black, after a white police officer pressed a knee on his neck until he stopped breathing, officials have said.
After protesting outside the Dover Police Department, the group moved to Legislative Hall, where people in the crowd took turns calling for fair treatment.
Matt Gore, a student at Wesley College, attended the event and said it was important for people to make their voices heard.
"We are getting angry, and frustrated, and tired that we have to put up with these things on a daily basis," he said.
The crowd then turned its eyes to the road, marching through the streets of Dover, onto U.S. Route 13, and even back to the Dover Police Department, where demonstrators engaged in a dialogue with officers there.
But as the evening went on, a crowd made its way up U.S. Route 13 toward the Dover Mall, completely shutting down traffic on the busy roadway at times as the large and loud group of people and cars made their way north.
Police met people who gathered in the parking lot of the Dover Mall, which saw a pair of businesses looted. It's unclear how many people involved in the original demonstrations were involved with the group that marched up North DuPont Highway.
M/Cpl. Mark Hoffman, a Dover Police Department spokesman, said Forever 21 and a shoe store inside the Dover Mall were broken into. A similar situation at the nearby Cricket Wireless store just south of the mall.
Overall on the evening, Hoffman said he was aware of only one person being arrested. He did not immediately have information about charges but said the arrest was made in connection to objects being thrown at police vehicles.
Dover police secured the mall shortly after the crowd moved there, but the group made its way north to the area of the Delaware State Police headquarters.
By this point in the evening, Dover Mayor Robin Christiansen had announced he had declared a state of emergency and a curfew that went into effect at 9 p.m. Sunday and expired at 6 a.m. Monday. The curfew will continue to be in place for the entire city from 9 p.m.-6 p.m. every day until further notice.
"While it is with every intent we support the First Amendment Right to protest, those rights end when violence and destruction imposes on the rights of their fellow citizens," he said.
Troopers told the crowd to disperse, though many of the people in the crowd moved across the street to the Capital Inn of Dover.
For more than an hour, the group and troopers stood opposite each other before troopers moved back to the northbound side of U.S. Route 13 and the crowd began to disperse.