Hundreds of Miami Spring Breakers Arrested For Ignoring Covid-19 Protocols

Hundreds of people were arrested and at least two police officers were injured this weekend, according to the mayor of Miami Beach, as thousands of spring breakers defied COVID-19 safety guidelines and flocked to the famed South Florida destination.

Officers were forced to use pepper balls to disperse a “very big” violent crowd as they took a subject into custody, according to the Miami Beach Police Department. Following the incident, two officers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries and were released early Saturday morning.

“What happened was a large crowd gathered and at some point people walked into the crowd and began tossing money into the air, causing a bigger crowd to gather,” Miami Beach Police Chief Rick Clements told CBS Miami.

According to police, 30 more people were detained in South Beach on Saturday night.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber told CBS Miami, “We’ve got too many people coming, we’ve got too many people acting out and we have COVID at the same time, so it’s a triple threat.” He added, “If you’re coming here to disrupt then it’s not worth the money to us. It’s not worth the revenue. You cannot pay our community to endure the kind of inappropriate and improper conduct that we’ve been seeing.”

He continued, “If you’re coming here because you think anything goes, you’re going to have a terrible time. We’re going to arrest you. We’ve made hundreds and hundreds of arrests.”

The city of Miami Beach extended its state of emergency declaration and emergency measures, which include a midnight curfew, until March 17th. Florida has removed limits on restaurants and other businesses and does not have a statewide mask requirement.

“I think what we’re seeing now is that there aren’t a lot of other destinations that are available, or they’re cold, and the plane fares are very, very cheap…so we’re getting a whole lot of people coming here,” Gelber told CBSN last week,  “It doesn’t look like enough of them seem to even know that there is a pandemic.”

In an effort to reduce the crowds seen during last year’s spring break season, the famed spring break destination has increased its police presence, prohibited open alcohol containers, and set capacity limits on its beaches.

Gelber claims the city has not been “particularly successful” in implementing safety regulations.

“There is no question that irresponsible activity creates hospitalizations and death,” he said, denouncing the governor’s mask policies.