Atlantic City has implemented a 7 p.m. curfew for the next week after a peaceful protest about police brutality turned into looting and vandalism.

“You saw Atlantic City at its worst yesterday,” Mayor Marty Small Sr. said. The mayor says that state troopers were called in to help with the situation. He says that 17 people were arrested – only six of which were from Atlantic City.

 “I was shocked as hell. I’ve never seen anything like that in person,” says Atlantic City native Patrick Jeantry Jr.

Jeantry was in the crowd Sunday when he says that things turned violent.

“Everything was fine and then something happened between a cop and a protester and somebody threw a bottle of water at the police station and that’s when the riots or looting began, right after that,” he says.

Mayor Small says that the curfew will be in effect for the next week. He says that 20 businesses and the Tanger Outlets were damaged. Looters pulled merchandise right off the shelves.

“Inventories were wiped out and that’s just unacceptable,” the mayor says. “I hope that people realize all of these establishments have surveillance videos and at the appropriate time, they’ll be looked at by law enforcement."

Small says that despite Sunday’s unrest, Atlantic City residents came out and showed their best side on Monday, with volunteers helping to clear the debris left behind.

 

“What you saw last night was not Atlantic City. Yes, there was a couple of knuckleheads that were out there from the city, but as a whole, that’s not who Atlantic City is,” says Jeantry.

Mayor Small says that The Soldiers Home – a community center that provides meals for seniors - was also looted overnight. He says that the supplies that were stolen were helping them run the program during the COVID-19 crisis.