SWAT Team Called After Miami Spring Break Celebrations Spiral Out Of Control

Wild.

SWAT Team Called After Miami Spring Break Celebrations Spiral Out Of Control

Image: New York Post, March 2020. 12 months has passed and Miami now finds itself in a similar situation...

You know it’s been a big party when the SWAT team gets called.

Taking Spring Break scenes to wild new heights, the Miami Beach Police reportedly fired pepper balls into crowds of revellers and arrested at least 12 people on Saturday, and have arrested 50 since Friday.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber had declared a state of emergency and set an 8 p.m. curfew in response to the spiralling partying, saying the crowds that had descended on Miami were too much.

“Too many are coming, really, without the intention of following the rules, and the result has been a level of chaos and disorder that is just something more than we can endure,” Gelber told CNN.

News.com.au reports, citing The Daily Beast, which had a reporter on the ground, that, “Even as special weapons and tactics teams rolled in to block the streets and used piercing sound cannons to try to clear the completely packed streets, the parties continue to rage for hours.”

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Tweets on Sunday pay testament to that.

“Officers began dispersing crowds at 8 p.m. and ultimately achieved a satisfactory level of compliance,” police spokesperson Ernesto Rodriguez told CNN.

These scenes come as Florida opens up to tourists after a year of lockdowns and restrictions around the country.

Governor Ron DeSantis has called the state an “oasis of freedom” during the pandemic and now the influx of pent up party goers has led to what Mayor Gelber told CNN feels like “a rock concert, wall-to-wall people over blocks and blocks.”

Though some have taken issue with reporting of the scenes…

…the fact remains that crowds were indeed there.

…Others around the rest of the country were not impressed.

The next big question is how things are going to work in summer, as one Twitter user pointed out…


Maybe Europe has the answer (see: here and here)?

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