Mass shootings and ‘riots’ put popular beachfront destination under all-ages curfew
Walking along Virginia Beach’s Oceanfront district without permission after 9:30 Friday night could get you arrested.
For a second straight weekend, police in the popular tourist area will be enforcing a city-imposed all-ages curfew. City officials say it’s meant to help law enforcement after a string of shootings and “riots” along the tourist area, but others say it’s an illegal act that’s harming local businesses.
Police detained a handful of people they caught outdoors last weekend, and more arrests could be on tap when the curfew is active again Friday. It won’t be in effect Saturday to allow for a military appreciation festival.
A resolution approved by the City Council said the area’s been plagued with violence in recent weeks, which is an annual trend for the resort area as temperatures rise in the spring.
On March 7, police responded to what the City Council called “actual or threatened violence” that included a shooting that injured six people and several other “near stampedes or riots” that injured more.
A month later, police were called to another mass shooting that injured eight people between the ages of 17 and 24.
According to The Virginian-Pilot, the city’s police chief requested the curfew.
The city already had a curfew for unaccompanied minors in place since early March, but said it was “not sufficient to effectively respond to urgent public safety threats” similar to the ones Oceanfront had seen.
The curfew has several exceptions, including travel for work, worship, emergencies and press coverage.
Arrests
Among those arrested last weekend was Michael Barker, a disabled combat veteran-turned-independent journalist who ventured into the affected area to cover the curfew.
Police stopped him and asked for his identification. After refusing and saying he was a journalist, police didn’t consider him “credentialed” and placed him under arrest, according to a video Barker posted to his Facebook page.
Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson is representing Barker as well as a woman named Stephanie Vann, who he says lives in the area under curfew orders. Vann was arrested after going outside of her apartment to smoke, which Anderson said isn’t allowed on her property. Anderson said she, like Barker, is facing up to a year in prison.
Pushback
Anderson also represents Lisa Lawrence, a former police officer who is challenging the curfew in state court.
Anderson argues that the curfew runs afoul of Virginia’s “Dillon Rule,” a principle that defines what powers cities and counties have in extension of the state. In Virginia, emergency actions are limited to 24 hours before needing a new vote on an extension.
“Virginia Beach’s attempt to impose curfews across multiple weekends in a single ordinance is not what the General Assembly intended — it’s an improper expansion of emergency power, and we’ve asked the court to stop it,” Anderson, a former state lawmaker, said in a social media post announcing the lawsuit.
The court is scheduled to hear a request for a preliminary injunction on Tuesday.
In addition to the legal challenge, locals are pressuring the City Council to stop the restrictions. A petition signed by more than 800 people says the Oceanfront area is the “heart of the local economy,” and the restrictions are hurting not only businesses but workers who rely on nighttime patronage.
All-ages curfews are rare
Compared to curfews for minors, which hundreds of cities have kept in place, there are few instances outside of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and times of extreme unrest where cities have kept adults from going as they please.
In May 2020, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz issued an emergency curfew in Minneapolis to quell violence from protests over the death of George Floyd, who was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
In April 2015, Baltimore issued a citywide nightly curfew that stemmed from riots protesting the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
The city used its 911 system to get word of the curfew out, and enlisted local police and the National Guard to quell any further violence. The lockdown lasted from April 28 until it was lifted on May 3.
Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
