Palm Beach's Worth Avenue reopens following protests
Street is lined with upscale stores like Chanel and Gucci
Palm Beach's ritzy Worth Avenue has reopened following protests in the town against police brutality following the death of George Floyd.
The town reopened the street Monday, lined with upscale stores like Chanel and Gucci, to pedestrian and vehicular traffic after being shut down since Friday following demonstrations, according to the Palm Beach Post.
Officials said the town's daily curfew was extended to between midnight and 6 a.m. The curfew was originally set between 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. on June 1 after a demonstration starting in West Palm Beach and ending in Palm Beach on May 31 in which shopkeepers boarded up windows and put up storm shutters to protect against potential looters. Some merchants around the country have hired their own private security to deter violence.
People walk along Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
"The planned demonstrations throughout the county today did not provide any adverse traffic or crowd impacts in town," Police Chief Nicholas Caristo said in an alert reported by the Palm Beach Post.
"We will continue to update the community with pertinent developments if necessary," he explained.
PROTESTERS, OFFICIALS CALL FOR POLICE TO BE DEFUNDED
A wave of protests has continued across the country with demonstrations against police brutality after the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, who was killed May 25 after a white, now-former police officer, Derek Chauvin, was seen in video footage with his knee pressed on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd begged for his life.
Protests across the U.S. have continued as organizers call for policy changes such as the banning of chokeholds, the evaluation of law-enforcement training programs, and defunding police departments.