Dallas Officials Expand Curfew Zone

Dallas is expanding the area covered by a curfew order, city officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

The newly expanded curfew zone includes Trinity Groves and West Village. It also now includes the Frank Crowley Courts Building, where a demonstration began Monday evening, and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, where police detained hundreds of protesters later on Monday night.

The curfew is in effect nightly from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Officials are urging businesses in the affected area to close no later than 5 p.m. "so all patrons and employees may avoid harm."

Police detained hundreds of marchers on the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge at about 8:30 p.m. Monday, after officers allowed demonstrators to march onto the east side of the bridge. A group of law enforcement officers including Dallas police, Texas Highway Patrol troopers and Texas National Guard soldiers was blocking the west end of the bridge, preventing protesters from marching into Trinity Groves.

As protesters neared the west end of the bridge, officers fired smoke canisters, causing some protesters to turn and run back to the east. But officers blocked off the east side of the bridge, bottling protesters up. Officers detained hundreds of protesters, collected their information and released them.

During a news conference Tuesday morning, Dallas police Chief U. Renee Hall said protesters broke the law by marching in a lane of traffic on the bridge. Hall said protesters had been warned that they would be arrested before they walked onto the bridge.