Tulsa imposes curfew ahead of Trump rally

Tulsa, Oklahoma imposed a curfew ahead of a campaign rally by US President Donald Trump on Saturday, blocking roads with barricades amid tensions in a city that was the site of one of the worst racial massacres in US history.

In an executive order Thursday, Mayor G.T. Bynum cited fears of violent protests surrounding the rally in proclaiming a "civil emergency."

The curfew, which went into effect at 10 pm Thursday until 6 am Saturday and resumes after the rally until 6 am Sunday, covers an area in downtown Tulsa around the BOK Center arena where Trump is to speak.

Barricades went up Friday on the roads around the center, keeping streets clear of pedestrians and vehicles.

One consequence: dozens of Trump supporters who have lined up for days ahead of time to get the best seats were forced to take down their tents and move to an authorized area.

More than 100,000 people were expected to attend the rally, which has been sharply criticized as both a potential COVID-19 superspreader event and insensitive to Tulsa's painful racial history.

On May 31 to June 1 of 1921, a white mob burned down a black Tulsa neighborhood, Greenwood, killing as many as 300 people and destroying some 1,200 buildings.

The Trump rally has drawn calls for protests and civil rights leader Al Sharpton was expected to speak at a rally Friday commemorating Juneteenth, an unofficial holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.

Bynum's executive order cited "civil unrest" in Tulsa and the United States since the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, suffocating him.

It also noted that a federal exclusion zone was being established around the Trump rally site "in the interests of national security."

"As mayor, I have received information from the Tulsa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies that shows that individuals from organized groups who have been involved in destructive and violent behavior in other states are planning to travel to the city of Tulsa for purposes of causing unrest in and around the rally," the executive order said.

The curfew bans all pedestrian and vehicular traffic in a designated area in the vicinity of the Trump rally.

Stephen Corley, 19, said he was concerned about "leftist liberals" and "rioters and protesters protesting Black Lives Matter."

Like almost all the people planning on attending the rally, he was not wearing a face mask for protection against the virus.

But he said he would wear one if he had to do, for the chance to seeing the president in the flesh.

"If they're gonna require me to wear it, I probably will. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'm not going to miss out on seeing Trump just because I don't want to wear a mask," he said.

Trump himself took to Twitter to threaten that "any protesters, anarchists, agitators, looters or lowlifes who are going to Oklahoma please understand, you will not be treated like you have been in New York, Seattle or Minneapolis. It will be a much different scene!"

Trump had initially picked Friday for his first rally in months, but put it off for a day amid criticism about holding it on the date known as "Juneteenth" which marks the 155th anniversary of the last African American slaves learning of the end of slavery.

Tammy Willard, a hairdresser from Wichita in Kansas, was dismayed that people were speaking out against the president's visit.

"When he had found out about the celebration, he moved it," the 52-year-old said. "He moved it to Saturday, he was not going to interrupt their celebration ... and and he did it out of respect for them. And they're still not grateful. And I don't understand it."

"I just want a chance to see him in person, not just watch him on television," said Willard, who had been camping out with her family since Wednesday.

"I hear it's quite different. It's my first time," she said.