Last edited Mon Mar 18, 2024, 07:41 PM - Edit history (1)

Same happens here too.

I thought is was a fitting tongue-in-cheek comment. (I did note the sarcasm)

Miami announced it ahead of time that they really didn't want the spring breakers in spite of the money it would generate apparently because they thought it wasn't worth the cost in damages and deaths.

Miami made it clear that there would be a curfew.

Half the arrests of last year with no curfew.

No deaths.

The curfew was announced 2 days before.

All by dictate. No vote.

Business owners sued and lost. All planned evening events cancelled. Much revenue lost. Expenses incurred.

More 1.5 x overtime for cops than you can shake a stick at. 2 x for working on the lord's special day.

Authoritarian jackboots win.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/miami-beach-officials-spring-break-rules-warning-rcna141650

Read the above NBC article posted on MARCH 4th, NOT two days before but two weeks before. It even references curfews and a February announcement of strict enforcement which indicated they did NOT WANT spring breakers.

I'm sure that a lot of bars were anticipating getting the spring breakers liquored up at high prices. How many of them were the bars selling booze and the businesses renting vehicles to the drunks?

And if they had no restrictions, would they have had any fewer police needed considering there were 2X arrests last year and two shootings?

Sorry. I disagree with you. and the jackboot comment was not justified by showing that the police acted improperly without provocation considering only half as many were arrested. I am no police supporter but neither do I blame all police because of the bad apples.

If you have something definitive please post it.

I live here. The curfew was threatened, but formally announced by the mayor 2 days prior. Leaving many businesses and employees and contractors in lurches.

expensive parking fees. It also said it would increase law enforcement."

I guess that those words don't mean the same to you as they do to me.

So were you surprised when the formal announcement went out?

And I guess you missed this little mention of what happened last year:
https://www.miamibeachfl.gov/category/news/2024-press-releases/]

The Miami Beach City Code grants the City Manager authority to impose discretionary emergency measures for up to 72 hours unless an extension is granted by the Miami Beach City Commission.

The City Commission passed a resolution last year endorsing the City’s intent to declare a curfew to protect public safety during Spring Break 2024. City leaders also have publicly warned local businesses to “expect curfews’’ during Spring Break 2024, particularly during this weekend, when South Beach historically has experienced the highest level of disturbance and violence.

“In consultation with our public safety leadership, we have determined that a midnight curfew is necessary and appropriate to assist in maintaining public safety on this Spring Break weekend,’’ said Miami Beach City Manager Alina Hudak. “We did not make this decision lightly, but it should not come as a surprise. We have been very clear about our intent to protect the public from the dangerous mayhem that has accompanied Spring Break crowds in recent years.”


So LAST YEAR the City Commission endorsed the city's intent to have a curfew. And the Mayor said it should come as no surprise.

But I'll admit to a mistake in my last post. There weren't two shootings. There were two deaths last year. Shame on me. They weren't just shot. They were shot to death. Lord knows how many shootings there were. You might know that number.

In case anyone is wondering about my deleted post, I mistakenly posted it as a reply to myself so I deleted it and posted it here correctly in reply to Marcus IM

I live down here in the Miami area.
The (lack of, improper, inconsistent) communications from the administrators of Miami Beach is notorious.

Thanks for the convo.

Have a great one.

Tons of 20 somethings with plenty of money to spend, but just want a place to get drunk and debauch....there ought to be a national designated Beach and Party zone. And no police inside, just containment on the outside. You are on your own, kids!

I want our kids to feel freedom.

I don't want them pushed around by authoritarian jackboot cops.

I want our kids to be safe.

I want kids to know that they are not on their own.

They are our kids.

Their efforts were very successful. I guess, too successful. My kids were in this age in 2008/2010. Neither had the money, nor the inclination to "Spring Break". I was OK with that.

Choke on their own vomit.

It's a big tent. I thought.

And you want kids to choke?

Just a grumpy old lady whose college Spring Break experience was sitting at home for a week listening to my mother complain because I didn't have a job lined up for a week. Or visiting my relatives over Easter.

All thanks to your local small white booted fascist leader.

Lgbtq? Extra charges.

Birth control? Extra charges.

Trans? Don't even ask.

Red hat? Get out of here or we will tell your parents.

Good one.

obnoxious, and out of control? Why would anybody, including participants, be surprised about arrests?

The Miami Beach police antagonize the young vacationers. They have problems. They cause problems.

For some reason, Broward County welcomes the spring breakers and their business ... no problems.

Ft Lauderdale/Hollywood police do not antagonize the young people. They don't have problems. They don't cause problems.


Spring Break going swimmingly so far along Fort Lauderdale Beach

kids deliberately getting trashed and obnoxious - - problems. every time.

however, I am not on location, and will defer to your greater experience ...

to go after protesters and journalists covering the Free Trade Agreement meetings in Miami. Lots of extremely ugly wounds to the US Americans who dared to protest. . . .


AFL-CIO calls for probe of Miami police
CORALIE CARLSON THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI -- The AFL-CIO asked Wednesday for federal and state investigations into police conduct at the protests outside the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting last month.

A letter sent to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Gov. Jeb Bush also asked the two leaders to prosecute those who abused civil liberties and called for the resignation of Miami Police Chief John Timoney.

The protests turned sporadically violent in the final days of the trade talks. Some of the thousands of demonstrators threw objects and fired slingshots at officers; police hit protesters with batons, zapped them with stun guns, and dispersed them with tear gas and pepper spray balls. More than 200 people were arrested.

Police blocked access to a union rally by "deploying armored personnel carriers, water cannons and scores of police in riot gear with clubs in front of the amphitheater entrance," according to the letter by AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney.

A peaceful labor march of 8,000 to 10,000 demonstrators was cut off and police advanced on the protesters without provocation, the letter said. The crowd was not given a safe route to disperse, and police used pepper spray and rubber bullets on people as they tried to leave, the letter said.

"This abuse at the hands of Miami police is an insult to the American labor movement, and to all Americans who believe in the basic rights guaranteed by our Constitution," Sweeney wrote. "Not since the days of the civil rights movement have I witnessed such outrageous and inexcusable behavior by the police who are sworn to protect us."

Gov. Jeb Bush and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2003/12/04/afl-cio-calls-for-probe-of-miami-police/28777752007/

~ ~ ~

Police Trampled Civil Rights During 2003 Free Trade Protests in Florida, ACLU Charges
Affiliate: ACLU of Florida
November 17, 2005 12:00 am

MIAMI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida’s Greater Miami Chapter today filed three lawsuits charging that officers of the Miami, Miami-Dade and Broward police departments used excessive force to intimidate and unlawfully arrest innocent bystanders and protesters who were exercising their free speech rights during the November 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) ministerial meetings in downtown Miami.

The three lawsuits filed today – on the two-year anniversary of the FTAA summit – are on behalf of a former Miami New Times reporter, four labor union members and a college student from Massachusetts whose skull was fractured after police hit him in the head three times with a baton. All six ACLU plaintiffs were arrested on November 20, 2003, during marches that resulted in hundreds of arrests after police used unnecessary force to disperse crowds.

“The ‘Miami Model’ was a police tactic designed to intimidate political demonstrators, silence dissent, and criminalize protest against the government policies,” said ACLU Greater Miami Chapter President Terry Coble, referring to the City of Miami’s law enforcement strategy during the FTAA meetings. “If this type of police action is allowed to continue, our country will have lost one of our most basic rights, and we will be on the road to a totalitarian government.”

The plaintiffs in today’s cases were among thousands of people who came to Miami to observe or participate in lawful demonstrations to protest FTAA trade policies. Despite the overwhelmingly peaceful nature of the gatherings, police officers arrested approximately 300 people, most of them for minor offenses such as disorderly conduct and failure to obey a lawful command. Hundreds of people were held in local jails for more than 24 hours. The charges against virtually all of those who were arrested were later dismissed, the ACLU said.

More:
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/police-trampled-civil-rights-during-2003-free-trade-protests-florida-aclu-charges

Remember that well-known police chief with the notorious reputation for brutality they brought in early to organize police oversight? They started arresting people on the street at least one night before the event started, as well.





















~ ~ ~

I just had a flashback: Remember when George W Bush started handing out military vehicles and weapons and equipment to large cities for them to use for crowd control during his "Presidency?" I can't remember if the Miami police was using any of that huge hardware handout to city police against these protesters! Just a thought.