MIAMI – Efforts have been made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to stiffen the penalties against protestors, especially when they do things like block traffic.
On Monday, several protesters were taken to the Miami-Dade County jail after selecting April 15, tax day, to further prove their point.
People protesting the rising death toll in Gaza were pulled away and handcuffed by Miami police officers after blocking traffic on Biscayne Boulevard near Bayside in downtown Miami.
“We want to say that we don’t want any more of our tax payers’ dollars going to genocide -- funding for the genocide that is unfolding in Gaza,” said protester Ella Fies.
Seven people were arrested Monday afternoon.
They were identified as:
- Chantel Bravo-Viera, 24
- Jandrick Castro, 23
- Rachel Covington, 27
- Hill Blackett, 37
- Rachel Komich, 28
- Valentina Jadue-Zalaquett, 29
- Nicole Morse, 36
All face charges of unlawful assembly to commit breach of peace and obstructing traffic/soliciting without a permit.
According to their arrest reports, the group was initially walking in the area peacefully and stopped in the median sidewalk at Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast Third Street.
But police said a white Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck stopped in the crosswalk, at which time the group ran up to the truck, opened its tailgate and removed several large painted pieces of PVC.
According to the reports, the group used the PVC pipes to create a “sleeping dragon” maneuver, in which protestors are handcuffed together with the pipes so police aren’t easily able to break them.
Police said the group laid down in the roadway while bound together, obstructing traffic and impeding the regular flow of business into Bayside Marketplace.
According to the reports, officers ordered the protestors to clear the roadway, but they did not comply.
The demonstration was part of an international day of protest against the tens of thousands of Palestinians -- a large number of them children -- killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
“I think it’s really heartbreaking and upsetting that we do have to take such extreme measures to get people to care,” said Fies. “And I think it’s upsetting that people don’t intuitively care about the tens of thousands of people in Gaza who have been murdered and then the millions (who) have been displaced and are starved.”
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, applauded Miami police enforcement at Monday’s protest, saying on X:
Here’s a warning to any leftist Hamas sympathizers: don’t try this crap in Florida.
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) April 15, 2024
We stand with Israel and our Jewish community. We won’t put up with you pitching a fit to defend terrorists. https://t.co/GOuYSQGUO5
“I do not support Hamas. I think that needs to be said very loud and clear,” said Fies. “In no way, shape or form is this action in support of the lives that were lost in Israel. We absolutely do not agree with (the) senseless murder of innocent people.”
Jail records show that all seven suspects have posted bond as of Tuesday morning.