The city of Reno issued a mandatory curfew starting at 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening. Residents are being asked to stay indoors and avoid public gatherings, and avoid the downtown area.
The Reno Police tweeted that there will be "heavy police presence downtown throughout the night."
Washoe County later announced there would also be a county-wide curfew until 7 a.m. Sunday morning.
Protesters smashed windows and set furniture on fire at Reno City Hall Saturday night.
#Reno City Hall windows and doors being broken by rocks, baseball bats and skateboards pic.twitter.com/r2WA9ZmsQx
— Lucia Starbuck (@luciastarbuck) May 31, 2020
"Emotions are high and many in our community are in pain," Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve tweeted Saturday evening. "But I implore our citizens to channel this energy into the true fight: social justice, equality, and accountability. We love our city and all who live here."
Earlier in the day, about a thousand people peacefully marched through downtown, calling for an end to police violence.
But just after seven in the evening, a smaller group used baseball bats and skateboards to break glass on the building’s first floor.
Police arrived on scene shortly afterward and fired tear gas into the crowd.
"We in the City of Reno will not tolerate any excessive use of force by our police department or anyone else for that matter," Schieve tweeted. "I want to make that abundantly clear. We absolutely support peaceful protesting in the City of Reno."
Reno police Chief Jason Soto tweeted that officers from the Sparks police department, Sheriff’s Office and the National Guard were also being deployed.
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