Miami Beach declares emergency, extends curfew following 1,000 arrests, huge traffic jams amid spring break chaos

Miami Beach, Florida, officials have declared an area emergency following the actions of an "unruly" spring break crowd that has seen more than 1,000 arrests across the city.

What are the details?

According to a Monday report from the Associated Press, the crowd — who have refused to wear masks — gathered in Miami Beach by the thousands and engaged in fighting, destroying restaurant property, and more.

In a late Sunday meeting, Miami Beach officials voted to extend an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew for another week as the crowds have become a "serious threat to public safety." The curfew could extend "well into April" if necessary. The curfew has also forced restaurants to stop outdoor dining and has encouraged other local businesses to shut down altogether.

Authorities said that the crowds aren't typical of spring break, and the people don't appear to be college students, but "adults looking to let loose in one of the few states fully open during the pandemic."

According to the AP, "More than half of the more than 1,000 arrests were from out of state, said City Manager Raul Aguila, adding many are coming 'to engage in lawlessness and an anything goes party attitude.'"

Revelers, he said, aren't eating at local restaurants or spending money at local businesses and are "merely congregating by the thousands in the street."

"Officers in bulletproof vests dispersed pepper spray balls Saturday night into a defiant, but mostly nonviolent crowd, refusing to submit to the curfew that had only been enacted four hours earlier," the news agency added. "Some people responded by jumping on top of cars, twerking and throwing money into the air."

What's the background?

By Thursday, impromptu street parties broke out, and Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Clements said that fights broke out and prompted injurious stampedes

By Friday, a least one local restaurant was trashed by partiers and violence broke out.

"After gunshots were fired, a young woman cut her leg so badly in a stampede that she was transported to the hospital where they initially thought she had been shot, police said," according to the outlet.

“We couldn't go on any longer," Clements said, pointing to Sunday's vote. “I think this was the right decision."

Miami Beach is a city on an island about 3 miles offshore from the city of Miami.