Wild scenes of spring break partying emerged out of Miami Beach this weekend as city officials declared a "super spreader" state of emergency.
Social media was ablaze with cell phone videos out of South Beach in Miami Saturday as thousands of spring breakers ignored one-year of social distancing guidelines and partied in the streets. One such attendee was a man whose face was painted to resemble Batman nemesis, the Joker. He climbed onto the roof of a car while waving an American flag to tell the dozens of nearby partiers, "COVID's over, man. COVID's over baby! F**k that!"
WARNING: Strong language in the clip below.
Paints face and hair like the Joker, goes to South Beach, climbs up on a car with an American flag, screams “Fucking COVID is over baby!” and makes it rain. #BecauseMiami pic.twitter.com/JTLEjzCZps
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) March 20, 2021
One video angle of the same incident showed onlookers holding liquor bottles and screaming, "we're watching the world burn," a reference to Heath Ledger's role as the Joker character in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. Dozens of spring break vacationers could be seen gathering around to record the Joker-dressed man's announcement near Collins Avenue and Española Way in South Beach. Several attempted to grab the cash or leaflets the man tossed into the air during his mini-performance.
The post was shared on Twitter by Billy Corben, director of South Florida-centric films Cocaine Cowboys and The U, who has for years highlighted "Florida Man" behavior across the state.
"Paints face and hair like the Joker, goes to South Beach, climbs up on a car with an American flag, screams 'F***ing COVID is over baby!' and makes it rain. #BecauseMiami," Corben tweeted.
But the Joker's declaration that the COVID-19 pandemic has already ended was not a belief shared by local city officials. On Saturday afternoon, they declared a state of emergency because police were unable to contain the "unruly" crowd.
Bridges into Miami Beach were closed at 10 p.m., and Mayor Dan Gelber said a citywide curfew set for 8 p.m. would be enforced by several departments of local law enforcement. On Friday, the mayor described the city as being "under siege" by spring breakers who likely have been in pandemic lockdown since last March.
"You saw the photos from last night. It was quite simply overwhelming. It looked like a rock concert: You couldn't see pavement and you couldn't see grass," said City Manager Raul J. Aguila, during a Saturday press conference addressing the lawless partying.
Thousands of partiers ignored the state of emergency order Saturday night and instead amplified partying on the streets. In response, Miami Beach Police used SWAT teams and anti-riot gear to disperse the growing throngs of partiers who crowded onto the city's streets. Videos posted to social media along 8th and Ocean showed tightly packed partiers swigging bottles of booze and dancing to music as far as the eye could see.
Newsweek reached out to Miami Beach's city government offices Sunday afternoon for additional updates.
