Politics
Votes Set on Push to Expand CPD’s Curfew Power, Social Media Crack Down in Effort to Stop Teen Gatherings
(WTTW News)
A key City Council panel is set to vote on two proposals designed to stop large gatherings of teens by expanding the Chicago Police Department’s power to impose a curfew with at least 12 hours’ notice and to crack down on social media platforms used to promote the events.
The proposals, set for a vote at the 10 a.m. Wednesday meeting of the Public Safety Committee, were prompted by the killing of 14-year-old Armani Floyd on Nov. 21 during a large gathering downtown after the city’s annual Christmas tree lighting. Eight others were injured in a separate shooting just blocks away.
Eighteen people were arrested or cited for curfew violations on Nov. 21.
No one has been arrested in connection with any of the shootings, a CPD spokesperson told WTTW News Monday.
The latest effort by Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward) to expand the power of the city’s curfew, which starts at 10 p.m. seven days a week and applies to everyone 17 years old and younger, faces an uncertain future amid continuing opposition from Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies.
The proposal would allow Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling to declare a pre-emptive curfew, with at least 12 hours’ notice, before a planned mass gathering.
Snelling would only be required to consult with Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Garien Gatewood before declaring what the measure refers to as a “time and place” curfew. The curfew could last for no more than four hours, and there is no restriction on how large the area impacted could be.
That provision prompted Ald. Jason Ervin (28th Ward) to use a parliamentary procedure when the measure was first introduced on Dec. 10 to send the proposal into legislative purgatory, in an effort to prevent an immediate committee hearing and vote.
However, records maintained by the Office of the City Clerk show Hopkins introduced an identical measure on Dec. 18 with no public notice — amid the fractious debate over the city’s 2026 budget — bypassing Ervin’s block and setting up Wednesday’s hearing, which could allow the committee to advance the measure to the full City Council for a final vote as soon as Jan. 21.
Johnson vetoed Hopkins’ last attempt to expand Chicago’s curfew, after it passed the City Council 27-22, calling it unconstitutional and unworkable. That plan would have allowed CPD to impose a “snap curfew,” allowing CPD to start enforcing the measure within just 30 minutes.
Although Ervin had co-sponsored the initial snap curfew proposal with Hopkins, he dropped his support after Hopkins removed a provision that would have required both Snelling and Gatewood to agree to declare a snap curfew. Ervin supported Johnson’s veto, which 34 members of the City Council failed to override.
A close ally of Johnson and an influential member of the City Council’s Black Caucus, Ervin insisted that both the deputy mayor and the superintendent act jointly to expand the city’s curfew to ensure the expanded curfew is not abused.
City officials learned from social media that a gathering was planned on Nov. 21 for downtown. Chicago Public Schools officials sent an email urging parents to keep their children away from the event, while CPD assigned 700 additional officers to patrol downtown.
The second measure set for a vote Wednesday would require social media platforms to take down posts designed to advertise “unlawful teen gatherings” within six hours of being notified by city officials that the posts violate local laws — or explain why they didn’t take action, according to the proposal.
Platforms that do not comply with the ordinance could be subject to fines of $50,000 for each offense, according to the proposal drafted by Ald. William Hall (6th Ward), a close ally of the mayor and a member of the Progressive Caucus.
If the City Council approves that measure, and attempts to enforce it, it will likely trigger a legal fight over the ability of a local government to regulate what is posted online, an area that is covered by the First Amendment and federal law, which grants online platforms immunity from liability for most content posted by their users.
Johnson and Snelling warned Dec. 29 that officers were prepared to enforce the city’s curfew on Dec. 31. “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” broadcast live nationwide from the Chicago Riverwalk, training a national spotlight on the city.
Johnson told reporters that what happened on Nov. 21 “enhances our determination” not to allow similar violence to take place, saying that incident “set our city back.”
The television event, and New Years’ Eve, took place without incident.
WTTW News filed a freedom of information request with CPD officials on Monday to determine how many teens were cited for violating the city’s curfew on New Years’ Eve.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
