Hundreds of spring breakers ignoring COVID-19 rules arrested in Miami Beach

Mayor of Miami Beach, Fla. Dan Gelber (D) said in an interview released on Monday that hundreds of people celebrating spring break in south Florida had been arrested this past weekend for ignoring coronavirus guidelines.

Speaking to CBS News, Gelber said that people were gathering in too large of groups and that at least two police officers had been injured this weekend while handling the crowds.

“We’ve got too many people coming, we’ve got too many people acting out and we have COVID at the same time, so it’s a triple threat,” Gelber said. “If you’re coming here to disrupt then it’s not worth the money to us. It’s not worth the revenue. You cannot pay our community to endure the kind of inappropriate and improper conduct that we’ve been seeing.”

Police reportedly dispersed an “unruly” crowd of spring breakers in Miami Beach on Friday, shooting pepper balls at the crowds of people. The incident began when officers encountered a crowd of 200 blocking an intersection.

“If you’re coming here because you think anything goes, you’re going to have a terrible time. We’re going to arrest you. We’ve made hundreds and hundreds of arrests,” Gelber added.

CBS News notes that Miami Beach has extended its pandemic state of emergency through March 17, which includes a midnight curfew.

“I think what we see happening now is, there are not a lot of other destinations that are open, or they’re cold, and the plane fares are very, very cheap … so we’re getting a whole lot of people coming here,” Gelber told CBS last week. “It doesn’t look like enough of them seem to even know that there is a pandemic.”