Aurora mayor declares state of emergency, issues curfew

An afternoon of protest in Aurora was followed by Mayor Richard Irvin imposing a Sunday night curfew.

At 7:45 p.m. Irvin issued a state of emergency and mandatory curfew over the Aurora Police Department's Twitter and Facebook pages.

The curfew was to run from 8:30 p.m. Sunday until 6 a.m. Monday "due to the widespread incidents of violence, vandalism and stealing occurring throughout the city of Aurora," according to his messages.

Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen and Kane County Sheriff Ron Hain also enacted a curfew for Aurora Township for the same time period.

A group of people had initially gathered at 3 p.m. outside of the Aurora Police Department to protest the May 25 death of Minnesota resident George Floyd. Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman and Deputy Chief Keith Cross were present to meet a crowd of protesters that built into the hundreds.

As social media accounts reported, after a peaceful yet vocal meeting much of the crowd dispersed. Some protesters walked to the Chicago Premium Outlets mall, where police had blocked the entrances. Before 3 p.m. Aurora Police also had shut down eastbound and westbound exit ramps at both Farnsworth and Eola roads off Interstate 88, the Reagan Memorial Tollway.

Participants reassembled and walked to downtown Aurora. At about 5:05 p.m. Aurora Police social media accounts reported "multiple protests" and asked businesses to immediately close.

According to social media posts, a group confronted police in front of Aurora's City Hall, with police using tear gas.

Under a "memorandum of understanding" between the police departments of Aurora and Elgin, the Elgin Police Department provided support. As of 10 p.m. Elgin officers still remained on the scene, and Elgin police confirmed two of its squad cars had been damaged. Elgin itself had remained "calm and peaceful," police said.

After Irvin ordered the curfew he issued a news release.

"Today we hosted a peaceful protest at the Aurora Police Department. However, once the protest ended, the crowd dispersed and then grew substantially with other participants throughout the streets of Aurora," Irvin stated.

"While Chief Ziman and I were honored to participate in the initial protest, we will not tolerate lawlessness in our city."

The release noted the continued closure of all I-88 entrance ramps during the curfew with Aurora residential or employment identification necessary to obtain entrance from the interstate.