The mayor of Miami Beach said hundreds of people were arrested and at least two police officers were injured this weekend as thousands spring breakers arrived in the popular South Florida destination, ignoring COVID-19 security protocols.
Friday, Miami Beach Police Department he tweeted that officers were forced to use pepper balls to disperse a “very large” messy crowd, as he was carrying a subject in custody. Two officers were taken to hospital for minor injuries following the incident and released on Saturday morning.
“What happened was that a lot of people gathered at some point in time, there were people who went ahead and went into the crowd that started throwing money into the air causing them to gather. a larger crowd, ”Miami Beach Police Chief Rick Clements told CBS Miami.
On Saturday night, 30 more people were arrested in South Beach, said police.
“We have too many people coming, we have a lot of people acting and we have COVID at the same time, so it’s a triple threat,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CBS Miami. “If you come here to annoy them, it’s not worth the money. It’s not worth the income. You can’t pay our community to endure the kind of inappropriate and inappropriate behavior we’ve been seeing.”
“If you come here because you think everything is going well, you’re going to have a terrible time. We’re going to arrest you. We’ve made hundreds and hundreds of arrests,” Gelber said.
On March 10, the city of Miami Beach extended the declaration of a state of emergency and emergency measures until March 17, which includes a midnight curfew. Florida does not have a state mask mandate and has lifted restrictions on restaurants and other businesses.
“I think what we’re seeing happening now is that there aren’t many other destinations open, or that they’re cold, and airfare is very, very cheap … so we’re getting a lot of people coming here,” he said. Gelber told CBSN last week and added that the city is doing everything possible to promote security protocols, although Gov. Ron DeSantis said he could not fine people for not wearing masks. “It seems like it’s not enough that they don’t even seem to know there’s a pandemic.”
Eva Marie Uzcategui / Bloomberg via Getty Images
The popular spring break destination has stepped up its police presence, banned the opening of alcohol containers and set capacity limits on beaches to try to mitigate crowds that were seen during last year’s holiday period.
Gelber said he was not sure the city had been “especially successful” in implementing security measures.
“There is no doubt that irresponsible activity creates hospitalizations and death,” he added, criticizing the governor’s mask policies.
Some colleges and universities have reduced rest days or completely canceled spring vacations as officials try to curb the holidays that could lead to an increase in COVID-19 infections. Florida faced similar issues during last year’s spring break, at the start of the pandemic, which caused large rises in cases.