Amid a string of shootings, Miami Beach City manager Alina T. Hudak and Mayor Dan Gelber have “declared a state of emergency” and announced a “curfew” will start on Thursday, according to The Epoch Times.
Gelber made the announcement on Monday outside Miami Beach City Hall.
The 12 a.m. until 6 a.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night curfew is restricted to a specific area: south of 23rd Street to South Pointe Drive, and from the Atlantic Ocean to Biscayne Bay.
Expressing displeasure with out-of-control behavior, Gelber said:
“If you want to see what a very frustrated and angry mayor looks like, you’re looking at him. Our city is well past its endpoint. We can’t endure this anymore.”
Gelber announced new crowd control measures will be enforced for the remainder of the spring break period and warned, “This isn’t your mother and father’s spring break. This is something wholly different.”
The Miami Beach area is a famed partying spot for college students on spring break. But poor choices and violent clashes have led to a “state of emergency” declaration for the second year.
Last year, more than 1,000 people were arrested during the spring break season—after city officials imposed an 8 p.m. curfew. In the last 30 days, more than 100 guns have been confiscated; five people were shot last weekend.
Mayor Gelber noted that violence and mayhem continued despite 371 police officers deployed last weekend.
The Miami Beach Fraternal Order of Police wrote that four officers have been injured recently on Twitter.
“Officers are EXHAUSTED. The party needs to end. City officials must take immediate and firm action to ensure the safety of officers and residents,” the post read.
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