Colorado Springs will be under a curfew.

Following the lead of other cities that have seen protests over the death of George Floyd, Mayor John Suther announced Wednesday that a curfew will be in place from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

“I do think that in the interest of public safety … it is necessary to impose a curfew beginning tonight, citywide, we’ll have a 10 p.m. curfew,” Suthers said.

Officers will enforce the curfew if crowds continue to congregate in violation of the curfew by using appropriate force to disperse the crowd, he said. Tickets will be issued if necessary.

The curfew will be lifted at 5 a.m. There are exceptions for a variety of first responders and people traveling to the airport, etc., he said.

Suthers says he is thankful that the “vast majority” of citizens are expressing themselves peacefully.

But nighttime protests have become “more confrontational,” he says, citing shattered windows, broken car windshields, damaged flood lights and police cars. The city has cleaned up graffiti at 75 locations.

The curfew is for #coloradosprings, but it’s up to the El Paso County commissioners if they want to widen it outside city limits. “We’re not doing this to discourage protests,” he said, but about what could potentially happen after 10 p.m. @csgazette — Chhun Sun (@chhunsun) June 3, 2020