The mayor of Miami Beach said hundreds of people were arrested and at least two police officers were injured over the weekend as thousands of people school holidaymakers flocked to the popular South Florida destination – and ignored COVID-19 safety protocols.
Miami Beach Police Department on Friday tweeted that officers were forced to use peppercorns to disperse a “very large” disorderly crowd as it arrested a subject. Two officers were taken to hospital due to minor injuries and released on Saturday morning.
‘What happened was a large crowd that gathered at a certain time, and there were people who went on and walked in the crowd and started throwing money in the air, which brought a larger crowd together, ‘Miami Police Officer Rick Clements told CBS Miami.
Another 30 people were arrested in South Beach on Saturday night, police said.
“We have too many people coming, we have too many people performing, 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 disrupt, it’s not worth the money to us. It’s not worth the income. You can not pay our community to endure the kind of inappropriate and inappropriate behavior we have seen.”
“If you come here because you think anything’s going on, you’ll 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 its emergency declaration and emergency measures to March 17, which includes a midnight curfew. Florida does not have a nationwide mandate and has lifted restrictions on restaurants and other businesses.
“I think what we are seeing happening now is that there are not many other destinations that are open, or that it is cold, and that the plane prices are very, very cheap … so we get a lot of people coming here,” he said. Gelber told CBSN last week, adding that the city is doing everything in its power to promote safety protocols, although Governor Ron DeSantis said it could not fine people for not wearing masks. “It does not seem like enough of they only know that there is a pandemic. ‘
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The popular spring holiday destination intensified its police presence, opened alcohol containers and set capacity constraints on its beaches in an effort to reduce the crowd seen last year’s holiday season.
Gelber said he was not sure the city was “particularly successful” in enforcing security measures.
“There is no doubt that irresponsible activities are causing hospitalizations and death,” he added, criticizing the governor’s policies.
Some colleges and universities have scaled down the days or canceled the spring breaks altogether as officials try to restrict parties that could lead to an increase in COVID-19 infections. Florida faced similar issues during the spring break last year, at the start of the pandemic, which in large cases led to major spikes.