Police SUVs and military transports continued to block a major downtown Salt Lake City street Monday morning, two days after protests stemming from police violence in Minneapolis turned violent.<\/p>\n

Hours after a citywide curfew lifted at 6 a.m., Salt Lake City police and Utah National Guard troops were stationed along 400 South between State Street and 400 East. The military vehicles blocked eastbound traffic next to Washington Square and Library Square, and near the police department, the focal point of Saturday\u2019s protests.<\/p>\n

Besides law enforcement, few people were seen walking in the area.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall instituted the unprecedented blanket curfew Saturday evening, after a police car and another car \u2014 driven by a man who was seen on video pointing a bow and arrow at protesters<\/a> \u2014 were overturned and burned. Gov. Gary Herbert activated the Utah National Guard to support police efforts to enforce the curfew.<\/p>\n

Police announced Sunday they had arrested 46 people Saturday night, most of them cited for failing to disperse.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown praised officers Monday for their handling of Saturday\u2019s violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing this job 29 years. I have never seen officers come together and put their lives on the line to protect life in the violence that they faced,\u201d Brown said Monday on X96\u2019s \u201cRadio From Hell\u201d show. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be prouder as a police chief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Military vehicles were also parked Monday on the corners of State Street and South Temple, by City Creek Center, and State Street and 100 South, in front of the AT&T offices.<\/p>\n

City Creek Center, a target for graffiti sprayers, remained closed Monday for cleanup, according to the shopping complex\u2019s website<\/a>. The shopping center\u2019s heavy glass doors are backed by plywood.<\/p>\n

Further north, at the Utah State Capitol, another site for Saturday protests, Sunday\u2019s clean-up efforts left practically no trace of the graffiti left behind on the granite approach to the building\u2019s steps.<\/p>\n

On the Capitol lawn, Derek Mitchell of Salt Lake City \u2014 wearing a face mask to guard against spread of the coronavirus and a hand-lettered \u201cBlack Lives Matter\u201d T-shirt \u2014 picked up bits of litter left around the grounds. He said other protesters were planning similar clean-up efforts elsewhere downtown.<\/p>\n

Mitchell said he carried a sign on the street Saturday, one of the many protesters driving and marching near police headquarters. Specifically, they protested the death of George Floyd, whose death \u2014 a Minneapolis police officer placed his knee on his neck for more than 8 minutes \u2014 was captured on video last week.<\/p>\n

The Salt Lake City protest was meant to be peaceful, Mitchell said. As it went on in the late May heat, though, \u201cit kinda got hijacked\u201d by people seeking to do violence.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake County Attorney Sim Gill joined 39 other elected prosecutors nationwide in a statement condemning Floyd\u2019s death \u2014 and urging changes to put an end to \u201cracially biased policing and police use of excessive force.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gill, in a statement sent to media Monday, cited \u201ca long-standing history and practice in this country of the state perpetrating violent abuse against, and painful neglect for, communities and people of color. Only by working actively to rid our society and systems of structural racism will we be able to meaningfully start down the path of justice for our most alienated brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prosecutors\u2019 statement lists 19 proposed policy changes, including: Creating national databases to track documented cases of police misconduct and records of dangerous officers; repealing laws that shield police records from the public; revisit practices that allow police departments to become militarized; and having candidates running for prosecutor offices refuse donations or endorsements from police departments or police unions.<\/p>\n

Salt Lake City police have posted photos on social media<\/a> from the moment during Saturday\u2019s protests when several people started to flip and then burn the police cruiser. Police are asking the public to help identify about half a dozen people who were on the scene.<\/p>\n