Miami Beach police used SWAT teams to try to enforce the alarm against out of control springbreakers – who, according to reports and videos, also set off a wild rush by firing pepper balls.
Videos on social media and local media showed thousands of revelers braving both the COVID-19 pandemic and Florida curfew after it began at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Even when police SWAT teams drove in to block the streets and used piercing sound cannons to try to clear the packed streets, the parties continue to rage for hours, a Daily Beast reporter noted from the scene.
Videos shared on social media showed some prestige among the masses throw money away – while another showed women twerking on top of cars long after curfew was supposedly enforced.
At least one woman climbed on top of a police car to dance provocatively, the Miami Herald noted.
Police eventually shot pepper balls at the crowd, the Daily Beast said – with game videos with a crazy rush in the still crowded crowd.
Several people were knocked to the ground – including a man expertly holding a Hennessy bottle to protect it from breaking, the outlet noted.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone had been injured and Miami Beach police have yet to announce if any arrests have taken place. The streets weren’t completely cleared until midnight – a full four hours after curfews began, the Miami Herald said.
Local officials enforced curfews after massive fighting and an increase in crime among the mass jumpers who are also defying coronavirus security protocols, they said.
The Miami Beach City Commission will hold an emergency meeting at 3 p.m. Sunday to discuss the temporary curfew – that interim City Manager Raul Aguila, who has declared a state of emergency.
“These crowds are in the thousands,” Aguila told the newspaper. “We are at capacity.”
But curfew won’t make a difference, several attendees told the Daily Beast – including Q Johnson, a 20-year-old student at Manhattan College in New York.
“It’s crazy in here,” Johnson said. ‘It is lit. It’s chaotic … Too many mothers here are lawless. “
He insisted he wasn’t worried about the pandemic, saying, “We’re good. Were young. “
Jeb Jones, 24, senior of the University of Illinois, told the outlet that the ‘low point’ was just ‘waiting in line to get to McDonald’s.’
“Curfew won’t stop me,” he swore. “We will continue to rage. The bars are great. “