Miami Beach Residents Hold Protest Over Spring Break Chaos

Miami Beach residents are taking a stand against spring breakers partying and causing unrest in their city.

Around 100 local residents came together outside of City Hall on Saturday, March 27, to protest against another spring break that has brought chaos to the city, reports WPLG.

Tension is high among Miami Beach residents as unruly spring break crowds prompted the city to declare a state of emergency and enforce an 8:00 P.M. curfew.

The story made headlines across the world.

"When we get this horrible PR it affects everyone because people are afraid to come here," political activist Kristen Rosen Gonzalez told WPLG. "We welcome everyone to Miami Beach, but we want people to stop trashing our city."

During Saturday's "Take Back the City" protest, residents expressed their frustrations with the city's handling of spring break crowds.

Miami Beach police were on-site to make sure the protest remained peaceful, according to WPLG.

On March 12, two officers were injured by crowds resulting in officers using pepper balls to disperse the crowd.

Then on March 20, pepper balls were used again to control crowds that defied the 8:00 P.M. curfew.

"I think that this particular area needs to be really battened down at night and we're going to continue to that until it's pretty clear we don't have to," said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.

Another resident, David McKinney, told WPLG it was a matter of public safety.

"What we want the city to do is treat this as a public safety issue, people have a good time and are safe."

Photo: Getty Images