With Curfews Lifted, George Floyd Rallies and Marches Continue Around Bay Area

Significant events in Thursday's continuing Bay Area response to the May 25 police killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

9:30 p.m.: A Black Lives Matter caravan in San Francisco
A caravan — by one observer's count including more than 300 cars — cruised from San Francisco's Richmond District and through other neighborhoods in the latest motor-centric demonstration against police violence (thousands of cars turned out for a similar rally in Oakland on Sunday).

KQED's Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez spotted the line of cars as it passed Clement Street and 6th Avenue in the Richmond:

9 p.m.: Oakland's latest George Floyd event wraps up

The By Any Means Necessary rally and march in downtown Oakland ended just after 8 p.m. with people drifting away in small groups and, as KQED's Kevin Stark noted with some surprise, "even waiting at stoplights."

8 p.m.: Where else in the Bay Area have there been George Floyd protests today?

One of the bigger gatherings in the Bay Area tonight: In Albany and El Cerrito, where about 1,000 people have taken to the streets in a march down San Pablo Avenue. That's just one of many such events all day across the Bay Area, including Healdsburg, Livermore, Fremont, San Jose, Los Altos, Mountain View, South San Francisco and San Francisco.

6:35 p.m. Thursday: Oakland march begins after rally
A rally called by activist group By Any Means Necessary is on the move after a rally at Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza, in front of City Hall. Demonstrators marched to West Grand Avenue, then west, chanting "no justice, no peace." One of the highlights: A group of young musicians led the gathering in a ho'oponopono chant — a ritual of forgiveness and reconciliation.

5:30 p.m.: Health care workers stage Oakland kneel-in
Before the start of a By Any Means Necessary rally outside Oakland City Hall, more than 100 health care workers gathered for a "White Coats for Black Lives" kneel-in in memory of George Floyd and other victims of police violence. “Police violence and brutality is a public health emergency," Dr. Kristen Lum, a pediatrician, told KQED's Kevin Stark. "Just like we’re in the COVID pandemic we should consider the events that have gone on recently to be a public health emergency.”

4 p.m.: City of Oakland, Alameda and Contra Costa counties (and others) end curfews

With the subsidence of a wave of property crime that coincided with the past week's George Floyd demonstrations, the cities of Oakland and Berkeley and the counties of Alameda and Contra Costa all canceled curfews they imposed earlier this week. San Francisco, San Jose and other jurisdictions allowed their orders to expire earlier Thursday. (See our full list of curfews and their current status.)

Theft and vandalism that had occurred alongside nonviolent protest has eased this week. At the same time, several major demonstrations in Oakland and San Francisco have proceeded without incident. Those rallies and marches have also been remarkable for police taking a less confrontational stance toward the gatherings. Police were out in force in downtown Oakland on Wednesday night during a rally that drew several thousand people to 14th Street and Broadway, for instance, but chose to keep their distance for the evening.

Thursday's coverage includes reporting from KQED's Kate Wolffe and Kevin Stark.

Below: Significant events in Wednesday's Bay Area protests of the May 25 police killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, along with related developments.

12:30 a.m. Thursday: Oakland dances, then heads home
As noted below, Oakland's anti-curfew, anti-police violence, pro-change rally ended with people literally dancing in the streets. Reporters noted that Oakland police, backed up by personnel from San Francisco and other jurisdictions, kept their distance, staging in force about six blocks from the party. People departed 14th Street and Broadway before midnight, with no arrests connected to the event reported.

Here's the scene, via the East Bay Times' David DeBolt:

11:20 p.m.: Arrests on San Francisco's Mission Street
ABC7 helicopter video streaming at 11:20 p.m. showed a cordon of roughly 50 San Francisco police officers who had detained 15 to 20 people in front of the Mission Ink tattoo parlor, on Mission Street near 20th Street. One of those detained was Mission Local reporter Julian Mark. He tweeted that those detained just before 11 p.m. had participated in tonight's nonviolent protests and that police stopped them for violating the city's emergency curfew. That order is set to expire at 5 a.m. Thursday.

11:10 p.m.: Oakland rally turns ... into a party
KQED's Erin Baldassari reports that about 200 people from tonight's rally at 14th Street and Broadway remain on the scene — and she confirms that a dance party is in progress at the intersection.

10:25 p.m.: San Francisco marchers disperse
KQED's Susie Neilson reports that the marchers who gathered briefly in front of City Hall have dispersed. And so have those who had held a vigil all evening outside the San Francisco Police Department's Mission Station. Sala-Haquekyah Chandler, whose son was killed in a 2015 shooting in the Western Addition neighborhood, was one of those at the station, and at 10:20 p.m. she told the remaining 30 or so youthful protesters there to head home. "Big mom energy," is how Neilson described Chandler's directive.

10:15 p.m.: Oakland rally is over, but many are still on street
At 10:15 p.m., Cat Brooks, a co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project, which sponsored tonight's "F___ Your Curfew" event, wrapped up the formal proceedings. "Walk with a buddy. If you're staying out here, take care of yourselves and take care of each other," Brooks said. "I'm not going to tell you what to do or what not to do — I don't know how many windows there are left to break, though. The only thing I care about, the only thing we care about, the only thing APTP cares about is that you all take care of yourselves and take care of each other." Many hundreds remained at 14th Street and Broadway after Brooks ended. Here's part of that scene via KQED's Alex Emslie:

10 p.m.: Still going strong in Oakland
The crowd gathered at and around City Hall-Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza/14th Street and Broadway is still very big. Several thousand, anyway. Here's the scene as viewed by ABC7's chopper at 10 p.m.

9:55 p.m.: In Santa Rosa, meanwhile ...
There was an evening of quiet, sparse protest in Santa Rosa tonight, where people have been turning out nightly. About 9 p.m., an hour past the city's curfew, a squad of 30 police officers marched into the city's Courthouse Square to deal with a quartet of protesters — four, literally — who remained there.

9:30 p.m.: San Francisco police issue curfew warning
Officers are warning the Civic Center-bound protesters they're subject to arrest for violating the 8 p.m. curfew. About 200 people still appear to be walking toward City Hall. Police, including a line of officers at the building's Polk Street entrance and dozens of motorcycle officers staged in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, are waiting for them.

9:20 p.m.: San Francisco protesters on the move
KQED's Susie Neilson reports the big crowd at the Hall of Justice has moved out, with many people apparently headed home but a sizable contingent marching to City Hall — despite it being nearly an hour and a half after curfew. The crowd departed the Hall, on Bryant Street, after staging an 8-minute, 46-second vigil for George Floyd. That's the length of time that former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who now faces a charge of second-degree murder, knelt on Floyd's neck.

8:30 p.m.: What happened last night in San Francisco, Oakland
For context: On Tuesday night, small numbers of demonstrators remained on the street in both San Francisco and Oakland after the curfew hour. San Francisco police more or less ignored a group of 50 to 60 people at City Hall — until they marched to the Hall of Justice. Then most of those in the group were arrested. In Oakland, dozens remained on Broadway, just up the street from police headquarters, until 10 p.m. Police then gave an order to disperse, and everyone left more or less quietly. No arrests were made.

8:25 p.m.: An Oakland protester on the curfew
Brooke Pearson of Oakland, as crowd swelled outside Oakland City Hall: "I believe curfew in this instance is designed to further suppress black voices and our allies. It’s completely unjustified. The people that are here are by and large completely peaceful. We have a message that we’re trying to send, and the curfew gets in the way of that and creates fear, which I believe is intended to keep people home, to keep people from taking to the streets, and it’s a way of suppressing our free speech and our right to organize."

8 p.m.: Curfew hours arrive, protesters stay put
Thousands of people remain out on the streets in San Francisco and Oakland in direct defiance of curfew orders that authorities imposed over the last several days to curtail property destruction and violence that coincided with the George Floyd protests. The main gathering in San Francisco is at the Hall of Justice where hundreds of demonstrators have jammed Bryant Street, face to face with a line of San Francisco police officers and sheriff's deputies deployed at the building's entrance. In Oakland, it appears that thousands have responded to a call to challenge the 8 p.m. curfew. Police have showed no inclination, so far, to try to get the crowds to leave. From KQED's Erin Baldassari:

7:50 p.m. Oakland crowd grows
KQED's Alex Emslie reports that at least 1,000 people are gathered at Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza 10 minutes prior to curfew taking effect.

7:30 p.m.: Mission High march and rally
Perhaps the biggest event of the last six days of major police violence protests across the Bay Area: A huge throng, many thousands, mostly youth, rallied at Mission High School in San Francisco at 4 p.m., then marched to the Castro, back through the Mission, east on 16th Street, then up Bryant Street to the city's Hall of Justice — a nearly 3-mile route. Hundreds remained as the city's 8 p.m. curfew hour approached.

6:30 p.m. Oakland curfew protest
People are beginning to gather at Frank Ogawa/Oscar Grant Plaza for an 8 p.m. protest called to challenge Oakland and Alameda County's overnight curfews. The county order is due to expire Friday morning; the city's is in place indefinitely. Both were imposed in response to violence and property destruction that coincided with George Floyd protests over the weekend. But the orders themselves have become the object of new controversy, and San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that her city's curfew would be allowed to end at 5 a.m. Thursday.

5 p.m.: ACLU demands end to curfews
The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California sent letters to Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Napa counties, as well as the cities of Palo Alto and San Francisco demanding the end to the curfews. The letter said, in part: "These sweeping measures, allowing police to arrest anyone outside from the early evening hours until 5 a.m., violate the First Amendment right to free speech and assembly. These vague, open-ended curfews are not only the wrong way of preventing violent offshoots from peaceful protests. They further inflame the situation by giving police wide discretion to arrest and harass individuals exercising their First Amendment rights — as well as the media documenting this historic moment. We are outraged by the tear gas, rubber bullets and other tactics that have been used against peaceful protesters and we stand in solidarity with them."

KQED's Alex Emslie, Susie Neilson, Erin Baldessari, Beth LaBerge, Anna Vignet and Gabe Meline contributed reporting for this post.