Questions were being raised on social media Monday afternoon about plans for a protest rally scheduled for 10 p.m. at a shopping center in a remote area of Brooklyn.
The demonstration at the Gateway Center outdoor mall in East New York was advertised on an Instagram page that’s serving as a clearinghouse for gatherings in and around New York City over the police killing of George Floyd.
The shopping center is home to nearly 50 stores and restaurants, including JC Penney, Target, Best Buy and Marshall’s.
There are also AT&T, T-Mobile and Verzion cellphone stores, as well as a GameStop video game store.
The planned protest would start just an hour before the 11 p.m. curfew announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the wake of four nights of increasingly violent demonstrations and instances of looting in parts of the city.
The Instagram user who posted the information, “justiceforgeorgenyc,” said the demonstration was moved to the Gateway Center after being previously planned at the Kings Plaza shopping center in Mill Basin.
“This is a planned peaceful protest,” justiceforgeorgenyc wrote.
“organizer [is an] individual who reached out to me and for anonymity reasons I won’t say who, but assured me it is intended to be peaceful.”
Several Instagram users who commented on the Kings Plaza plan expressed concerns about how it might turn out.
“Yooo who going to kings plaza they might start looting,” wrote user “pyt.nana332.”
Another user, “rphoto,” wrote, “Whatcha gonna do at Kings Plaza at 10pm?” and added a winking emoji.
Some also suggested that legitimate protesters might wind up serving as cover for looters.
“Just wondering about who is organizing kings plaza? Doesn’t it seem like a set-up? One thing if it were during the day, but 10 pm there sounds like maybe some of the opportunists we’ve been hearing about,” wrote user “foto4thought.”
Gateway Center is located near the sprawling Starrett City housing development, which lies in the ZIP code area that last month led the city in its percentage of coronavirus fatalities.
The 11239 ZIP code had an estimated death toll of 612 deaths per 100,000 residents, based on 76 total fatalities, according to data released May 18.