Cranston’s Garden City Center targeted for violence tonight. Chapel View & Warwick Mall, possible.

Social media and government intel has shown that Garden City Shopping Center is a possible target for violence tonight. Other targets mentioned were Chapel View and the Warwick Mall.

The city of Cranston police are aware of the threats, as well as the RI State Police and the Governor of Rhode Island has called out the RI National Guard.

We have also learned that all police officers in the state are required to be on-duty tonight. This afternoon many Cranston police cars and RI State Police cars were seen in the popular Cranston shopping center – several stores are still closed from the pandemic. Others had only recently been reopened due to the coronavirus. The shopping center, itself, has undergone a multi-stage renovation with new additions.

The Governor said this morning that they were “prepared for last night” and she was “grateful that the damage wasn’t worse than what it was”. She said the goal of the violent group had been “to blow up the Providence Place Mall and to burn down the city of Providence”.

Stay tuned for updates and use caution throughout Rhode Island tonight, and for the next several nights.

The Governor has not made a decision yet about putting a curfew in place for tonight.

Another demonstration is planned for Providence for Friday at 4:30pm. This is a youth group organized by the RI Coalition Against Gun Violence.