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Florida

Miami Beach streets quiet as curfew goes into effect following spring break violence

The curfew was prompted by two shootings last weekend

Brie Stimson By Brie Stimson Fox News
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The streets of Miami Beach were quiet after midnight early Friday after authorities were forced to impose a curfew due to a spike in violence allegedly driven by spring breakers, violence that included two shootings last weekend.  

The curfew is in effect in the city from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. Friday. The city also declared a state of emergency earlier this week. 

Police patrol the streets as a curfew goes into effect in Miami Beach at midnight Friday morning. 

Police patrol the streets as a curfew goes into effect in Miami Beach at midnight Friday morning.  (Fox News)

"The city of Miami Beach is under emergency curfew … please clear the streets," police patrolling the streets could be heard saying on bullhorns after nightfall. 

An armed guard stands watch outside a high-end boutique sneaker store on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach Wednesday.

An armed guard stands watch outside a high-end boutique sneaker store on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach Wednesday. (Fox News Digital)

"Certainly, the guns that are here didn’t come on an airplane, so we know much of the worse conduct is coming from people who live somewhere near South Florida," Mayor Dan Gelber told reporters in a news briefing this week.

MIAMI BEACH VIOLENCE DRIVEN BY GUN-TOTING SPRING BREAKERS COMING IN BY CAR

Michelle Moyer, a tourist who said that she and her husband saw one of the shootings last weekend, told WPLG-TV that she didn’t think the curfew was useful. "I think they’re just going to go somewhere else to be stupid," she said. 

Miami Beach police officers enforce an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by local authorities on spring break festivities, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S., March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Miami Beach police officers enforce an 8 p.m. curfew imposed by local authorities on spring break festivities, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Miami Beach, Florida, U.S., March 26, 2021. REUTERS/Marco Bello

Her husband disagreed. "I think it’s a great idea," Lance Moyer said of the curfew. "I think it’s at least a step."

Authorities are also requiring liquor stores in the city to stop selling alcohol by 6 p.m. over the weekend, the station reported. 

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Police said they’d arrested 618 people between the start of the season and March 20. Sunday was also the busiest day in history at Miami International Airport, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Other tourists were frustrated by the curfew, saying they wouldn't come back next year. "We came out to have a good time and the fact that we have to go in early it’s feels [sic] just like, wow," a tourist who didn't give their name told WPLG.