Spring Breakers scurried down to Miami Beach to celebrate their college breaks like they have been doing every single year for the last few decades.
It’s normal for students to want to party off their anxiety and stress from those long days of studying and attending classes. But, this year was particularly interesting because unlike past years the nation is being threatened by an extremely contagious virus called the coronavirus.
Countries all over the world are asking people to practice social distancing and to limit gatherings to no more than 10 people.
Well, this expectingly flew over the heads of spring breakers. Who can blame them. They’re essentially new adults and from the viral videos not even a virus could stop them from partying.
So, it would seem like an organic move for the governing officials of Miami and Florida to create an order demanding that spring break be cancelled, just as other major gatherings and festivals have been cancelled. But, for some reason the powers that be allowed these students to travel all the way to Florida and the aftermath is a mess.
In recent news, Ruban Roberts, the president of the Miami Dade NAACP, called for the resignation of Miami Beach’s police chief and city manager particularly for the mistreatment of black students visiting the area. The demand came after a few videos of police using excessive force on black students went viral on social media.
The Miami Beach police department did release seven arrest reports to TheGrio describing arrests of black people typically in their mid-20s who the police claimed displayed behavior that put police in harm’s way. These behaviors included drunken fights and not following police orders.
After hearing the reports of racist cops in Miami Beach, Mayor Dan Gelber wrote an opinion piece for the Miami Herald titled Miami Beach Police Put Themselves In Harm’s Way To Protect Black Visitors.
Gelber goes on to say, “Over just nine days of Spring Break alone, our police have been called to respond to 125 disturbances, of which 39 included batteries on people,” said Gelber. “And a dozen officers have been injured while protecting our guests, including suffering broken noses and fingers, and a fractured hip. Can someone point me to another resort destination where police must endure this on a near hourly basis?”
The mayor of Miami Beach was clearly perturbed over Roberts’ claims that the police were being racist, but not pointing out the poor behavior that provoked police action in the first place.
“Absent from Roberts’ assertions is any criticism of the young people who are comporting themselves in this violent manner,” said Gelber in the article. “Or any suggestion that this behavior during a pandemic is entirely irresponsible.”
Gelber, however, failed to point out that the steps they took to reduce the gathering of people during spring break was not efficient enough. He claims they created a “four-block activation area” with the hopes that people would stay within those confinements.
But, how about canceling any gatherings of more than 10 people, period, like the rest of the nation? Why not go out of your way to place large signs asking civilians to not gather, wash their hands and practice some of the other recommendations from the CDC?
If the city of Miami Beach did not want this headache, they could’ve went out of their way to ensure spring break was canceled BEFORE it happened. So, ultimately, the situation they are now dealing with is because of their slow response to the pandemic.
But, students still should be held accountable for their actions. By the way, many of these people arrested are reportedly in their mid-20s. Are they really students or locals?
Sounds like the same thing that plagued FreakNik in Atlanta when the locals made an innocent and fun gathering something worse when they started robbing and raping people. Miami Beach spring break hasn’t gotten to this point. Most of the people arrested was because of fighting.
So, this brings another question for the mayor. Why are police using extreme and aggressive force to control spring breakers? The choking of the woman in the middle of the street that accidentally collided with a running police officer and policeman pulling out their huge guns to scare the crowd. It sounds like the police don’t have control, at all.
It’s exhausting and problematic that policemen who are expected to have emotional stability and a higher level of judgement than the average civilian reacts the way an untrained, college student would. Who is the authority here?
Again, when schools started closing down and businesses started running out of supplies, city and state officials should’ve enforced a publicly announced state order demanding that more than 10 people not gather.
Touristy Miami Beach businesses should’ve been on a limited schedule. The beaches should’ve been closed down by now. If anyone is so stubborn and adamant about still gathering, then why not issue citations like Italy has resorted in doing?
With coronavirus spreading everyday, this is not the time for police to be emotional wrecks uncontrollably handling crowds or non-students crying wolf about racism knowing that their intentions weren’t good in the first place.
This is a time for cops to use their cooler heads and better judgement when dealing with HUMANS. This is a time for parents to advise their silly children to not attend big gatherings like Miami Beach spring break. This is a time for students to respect the law and for police to respect people of color. This is a time to sit your ass down somewhere! We have enough problems.
