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During an emergency meeting Sunday, Miami Beach City Commission voted unanimously on curfews and causeway closures that will remain in effect through April 12.
The ruling is meant to control the spring break crowd, reported The Miami Herald.
The decision came after Miami Beach police shut down the entertainment district Saturday after large crowds of young people congregated for spring break parties. The City of Miami Beach ordered police to crack down on the spring break partiers by imposing an 8 p.m. curfew on South Beach and closing the causeways to incoming traffic.
The closings sparked controversy, mainly because of the police’s tactics on the spring breakers, who were mostly Black and brown.
Miami Herald reported police approached the crowds with SWAT vehicles and armed with pepper used on the tourists. It was the release of the pepper balls that started the mayhem. All News Digital posted some of the interactions between police and tourists on Twitter.
Miami’s Black activists have expressed outrage at the tactics used by Miami Beach police and have called the use of pepper balls, in particular, “unnecessary.”
Some who did speak out feel that this is less about the control of the crowds but more about who the crowds are comprised of.
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Stephen Hunter Johnson, chairman of Miami-Dade’s Black Affairs Advisory Committee, told the Tyler Morning Telegraph, “I was very disappointed. “I think when they’re young Black people [on South Beach], the response is, ‘Oh my God, we have to do something.’”
The Grio reported Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements is investigating the reason why pepper balls were used. He said, “I think officers felt threatened at the time.”
Clements had plenty of support on Twitter after the Miami Police tweeted out a picture of the South Beach area after being cleared of tourists. Some of it was considered to be coded racist language.
Interim City Manager Raul Aguila declared a state of emergency. “These crowds are in the thousands,” Aguila said. “We’re at capacity.”
Earlier this month, Florida Governor Ron De Santis was criticized for his lackadaisical approach to COVID-19, the Sun-Sentinel reported. Communities leaders from Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties worked diligently to keep their residents safe from a potential surge by spring breakers after De Santis dropped all restrictions, including wearing a mask, fining businesses who didn’t comply and social distancing.
Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber expressed his frustrations with De Santis to the Sun-Sentinel.
“The fines were to encourage compliance the same way we have the seat belt laws,” he said. “He’s sending out the wrong message. I’m not sure why it’s good governance to tell people to stop wearing masks. He has the most powerful voice in the state. Why is he using it to discourage healthy practices? Why is he the champion of unhealthy practices in the face of so much death?”
The counties warned spring breakers to not come to the area in February.