Miami Beach declares emergency and orders curfew over spring break violence

‘We simply cannot endure this anymore’: Mayor says spring breakers have created an ‘unacceptable’ atmosphere

A police officer on an ATV patrols in Miami Beach, Florida’s famed South Beach (AP)

Miami Beach city officials have declared a state of emergency and the imposition of a curfew in order to curb violent incidents at spring break after two shootings led to five people getting injured.

The city’s mayor Dan Gelber announced the emergency order on Monday at an afternoon joint news conference with police and other local officials.

The midnight curfew will begin on Thursday at 12am and remain in effect until 6am on 28 March, said city manager Alina Hudak, who signed the order.

The move from the Miami authorities comes as a means to control unruly crowds of tourists coming to attend spring break, after two separate shootings were reported over the weekend that wounded five people.

Mr Gelber said that tourists had created an “unacceptable” atmosphere across the city with about 100 guns seized over the past four weeks, and several police officers injured while controlling the crowds.

“It’s simply unacceptable at every level,” Mr Gelber said. “We simply cannot endure this anymore. We just simply can’t.

“This isn’t your father or your mother’s spring break. This is something wholly different,” he said.

The mayor said the city does not “want spring break here” and the strict measures are a way to push back against the reputation that Miami Beach is a “24-hour party city”.

“We don’t want spring break here ... but they keep coming. People keep coming here in large numbers, such large numbers that it creates an almost impossible situation for our police.”

Thousands of college students and other young people gather annually in Miami Beach for spring break, and this is the second year in a row that officials for the South Florida city have declared a state of emergency tied to surges in visitors.

Last year, the authorities announced an 8pm curfew for the city to control crowds and potential Covid-19 outbreaks. More than 1,000 people were arrested last March during that period for violation of curbs. Several incidents of violence and brawls were still reported.