Miami Beach's Jerry Libbin Wants An Urban Beach Weekend Curfew

Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin says a curfew imposed for next year's South Beach Memorial Day festivities may be in order.Libbin, in response to two police shootings that left seven injured and one dead early Monday, wrote on his Facebook page that the "mayhem on the streets of Miami Beach"...

By Rich Abdill

May 31, 2011

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Miami Beach Commissioner Jerry Libbin says a curfew imposed for next year's South Beach Memorial Day festivities may be in order.

Libbin, in response to two police shootings that left seven injured and one dead early Monday, wrote on his Facebook page that the "mayhem on the streets of Miami Beach" has led him to recommend considering a curfew for future partiers, adding that he "will not stand by for another Memorial Day tragedy such as this weekend."

He is the first public official to speak up about the incident, the low point of a weekend that has been a touchy subject for years -- community activists like the Unity League's Herb Sosa said that "unruly and unlawful visitors are NOT WELCOME in Miami Beach," but others have long said complaints are racially motivated.

Political responses to the incident and the event in general will surely be carefully calculated, but Miami Beach Mayor Matti Herrera Hower and city manager Jorge M. Gonzalez were expected to meet Monday night to discuss the future of the event, according to WPLG.

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