Miami Beach implements spring break curfew following shootings


Miami Beach is reining in spring break revelers, with city officials declaring a state of emergency on Monday and announcing a curfew for parts of the South Beach area.
This comes in the wake of two shootings over the weekend that left five people injured. During spring break, tens of thousands of people come to Miami Beach, forming a "young, party-hard crowd," Mayor Dan Gelber said. "We can't endure this anymore, we just simply can't. This isn't your father's, your mother's spring break. This is something totally different."
"We don't ask for spring break, we don't promote it, we don't encourage it, we just endure it, and frankly, it's something we don't want to endure," Gelber added.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The curfew, which runs from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday through Monday, applies to an area of South Beach with several bars and restaurants, The New York Times reports. It will be finalized by city commissioners on Tuesday.
The shootings took place on Ocean Drive early Sunday and Monday, and are under investigation, Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements said. Since spring break visitors first started arriving in mid-February, nine officers have been injured, Clements said, and in the last three days, law enforcement officials have confiscated 37 firearms.
Miami Beach is connected to Miami via several bridges, and city manager Alina Hudak said the island cannot safely accommodate the large crowds that flock there during spring break. "We haven't been able to figure out how to stop spring break from coming," Gelber said. "We don't want spring break here, but they keep coming."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
The ‘Shakespearean bitterness’ of the thermostat wars
Talking Point ‘Genuine physiological differences’ mean women and men are at odds over temperatures at home
-
China’s rare earth controls
The Explainer Beijing has shocked Washington with export restrictions on minerals used in most electronics
-
Quiz of The Week: 11 – 17 October
Quiz Have you been paying attention to The Week’s news?
-
Arsonist who attacked Shapiro gets 25-50 years
Speed Read Cody Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and tried to burn it down
-
Man charged over LA’s deadly Palisades Fire
speed read 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht has been arrested in connection with the fire that killed 12 people
-
4 dead in shooting, arson attack in Michigan church
Speed Read A gunman drove a pickup truck into a Mormon church where he shot at congregants and then set the building on fire
-
2 kids killed in shooting at Catholic school mass
Speed Read 17 others were wounded during a morning mass at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murders
speed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bail
Speed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambush
Speed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial