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By CLAUDIA LAUER and MARK SCOLFORO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Protests over violent and unjust treatment of black people by police were expected to continue in Philadelphia on Thursday, one day before the city was scheduled to take a major step away from the COVID-19 lockdown it has endured for months.

Police said they were readying for more marches and demonstrations after gatherings and protests on Wednesday night were described as peaceful. The city announced a sixth night of a curfew that will begin at 8 p.m.

National Guard troops were again stationed outside government buildings in the city’s downtown.

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said the protests will continue as long as they need to.

“This has been a long time coming in this country,” he said.

Kenney said he was glad for the National Guard presence that has helped free up police resources to respond where they are needed. He said the city was outmanned early in the protests.

“We’re going around trying to reassure people we’re doing our best, and that we care about them and want to keep them safe,” Kenney said as he toured a neighborhood on Thursday with the police commissioner.

Protests over police treatment of black people have been spawned across the country by the killing in Minneapolis last week of George Floyd. Former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded pressing his knee on the handcuffed Floyd’s neck for several minutes, faces a charge of second-degree murder, and three other officers at the scene are accused of aiding and abetting a murder.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, said he will outline steps the state government will take in response to the protests with what his office described as a “multi-pronged approach to reform” during an afternoon news conference Thursday.

Protests have occurred in cities large and small around Pennsylvania in recent days, and some have been marred by violence.

Federal prosecutors say a gathering of protesters in Erie was “hijacked” on Saturday, leading to a case of arson, and they announced a suspect has been charged.

The FBI accused Melquan Barnett, 28, with malicious destruction of property using fire or explosives for allegedly setting fire to a downtown Erie coffee shop. Barnett, an Erie resident who authorities said was identified with the help of video, was taken into custody Wednesday.

His lawyer, Kwalonue Sunwabe Jr., denied the allegations, saying the person in the video is not Barnett.

“He is not guilty,” Sunwabe said Thursday. “At no point did he set anything on fire. At no point did my client engage in any action, none whatsoever. He was not the person who set any physical structures on fire.”

Philadelphia and its suburbs have suffered the worst effects of the coronavirus pandemic in the state, but the region is expected to be moved on Friday from the most restrictive red zone to yellow under the state’s stoplight-colored reopening system.

In the yellow zone, many businesses can reopen, but restaurants may do only take-out. Outdoor dining at restaurants, normally allowed in yellow zones, will be shut down, city officials said. Gatherings are limited to 25 people, and some personal care services, including hair care and gyms, are not allowed.

Much of the city’s central business district has been closed off, except to residents and business owners, as well as those providing or receiving essential services.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said there are concerns about increased coronavirus cases after the last several days of protests. “However, I’ve noticed many protesters (were) wearing masks,” he said Thursday. “In many cases, they were keeping their distance form other people.”

Those protesting in large groups are encouraged to get tested for the virus seven days after possible exposure.

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Scolforo reported from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.