The number of spring break arrests in Miami Beach has now exceeded 1,000 days of unrest, with many people coming from outside the state “to engage in illegality and a ‘anything goes’ party attitude,” officials say.
The updated figures come as officials also voted to extend curfews and closures at the popular tourist destination until April 12, despite some residents complaining of having to wait in traffic jams for up to four hours after the police closed the bridges in hopes of avoid the undisciplined crowds of the collection.
However, more photos continue to emerge of police officers making arrests in Miami Beach. Fox News contacted the city police department for further comments.
A man is arrested a few hours after the curfew in Miami Beach, Florida, on Sunday. (AP / Miami Herald)
MIAMI BEACH POLICE SEIZ AT LEAST EIGHT FIREARMS DURING ROWDY WEEKEND
More than half of the more than 1,000 prisons were from outside the state, said Mayor Raul Águila, adding that many are coming “to engage in illegality and a ‘anything goes’ partisan attitude.”
He also said that the crowds were not eating at restaurants or sponsoring businesses to help generate the much needed tourism dollars, but just gathering by the thousands on the streets.
The crowds – who have been fighting on the streets, destroying restaurants and refusing to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic – caused concern in Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements last Monday when they seemed larger than normal in a typically calmer day.
Crowds defiantly gather in the street as a speaker plays music an hour after the curfew in Miami Beach, Florida, on Sunday. The 8 pm curfew was extended in Miami Beach after the police worked to contain unruly crowds of tourists on spring break. (AP / Miami Herald)
“We couldn’t go on,” said Clements during a Sunday meeting with city officials, advocating a curfew. “I think it was the right decision.”
Miami tourism officials say billions of dollars were lost when the pandemic broke out last year, canceling spring break and forcing the closure of beaches across Florida. The city’s tourism arm has just spent $ 5 million on its largest national advertising campaign in 20 years.
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Miami Beach police arrive at the scene to disperse a crowd that formed near Seventh Street and Alton Road after crowds were driven out of Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida, on Sunday. (AP / Miami Herald)
At the same time, local authorities have banned alcohol on the beach, along with all alcohol sales after 10 pm, in an effort to curb the parties. The city even sent text messages by cell phone to tourists warning: “Take a responsible vacation or be arrested”.
“I just feel like it’s not fair,” tourist Heather Price told NBC 6. “People paid a lot of money to come here, just so they couldn’t do the activities they wanted to do.”
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and the Associated Press contributed to this report.