VIDEO: Watch Miami Beach Spring Breakers Rebel Against Curfew, SWAT Intervenes
While Florida may have lifted its mask mandate, many cities and counties implemented a mandatory curfew in lieu of thousands of spring breakers descending to beach areas.
Miami Beach issued an 8:00 p.m. curfew Saturday night after the announcement of the state of emergency. When visitors didn’t abide by the curfew, SWAT had to intervene.
Various photos and videos were posted to social media by party-goers, showing breaks in social distancing guidelines, other COVID-19 regulations and the mandatory curfew.
The Miami Beach Police Department called in the SWAT team to help tame the defying crowds. They fired pepper balls and piercing scream cannons to try to disperse the groups, according to a Daily Beast reporter who was at the scene.
“These crowds are in the thousands,” interim City Manager Raul Aguila told the Daily Beast. “We’re at capacity.”
The videos that were posted showed visitors dancing on top of police vehicles, as well as a stampede that formed that knocked many to the ground.
According to local reports, there were multiple arrests for disorderly conduct at the scene.
Florida residents have expressed concerns for the number of spring breakers and have cast blame on Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Too late, the damage has been done. We'll see spikes all over the nation in about 3-4 weeks thanks to these kids who think they're bulletproof. I hope their parents and grandparents don't let them back home until they've quarantined for 14 days AND had a covid test.
— 😷 Deb Lane ☮️🌈🌊✊🏾✊🏿✊🏽🇺🇦 (@Hippie_Grannie) March 21, 2021
Miami Beach, swamped with maskless partiers, just imposed an 8 PM curfew. Red tide levels just rose to alert level in Fort Myers Beach. I'm rooting for the algae, so our spring breakers will leave. #DeathSantis caused this with executive action prohibiting mask enforcement.
— Allan Dyen-Shapiro (@Allan_author_SF) March 20, 2021
I think we all knew the 8pm Miami Beach curfew was not going to be effective. Way to protect your constituents @GovRonDeSantis https://t.co/SQEsNJxz7p
— BlueWaters (Diana) (@Blue_Waters4) March 21, 2021

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