MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Rob Prince, Shari Kline, and Vik Pagan were among the dozens of demonstrators who showed solidarity with a woman who was attacked and raped while rollerblading in Miami Beach.
There were rollerblades, bicycles, and skateboards. Some were runners and walkers. They aimed to show their determination to take back a beachside path that no longer felt safe.
“For a lot of us it’s a source of therapy and peace, and unfortunately what happened to the victim last week crushed us,” Prince said.
Police officers in Hollywood arrested Keith Hill, 31, a registered sexual predator in Illinois, who Miami Beach police had identified as the man who attacked a woman as she rollerbladed and raped her.
“She wasn’t doing anything wrong,” Kline said. “She was minding her own business, enjoying her time, and it wasn’t her fault.”
Prince, Kline, and Pagan said it was important for them to help organize the demonstration to show the victim that she wasn’t alone and to reclaim the city’s public space and sense of community.
“Buddy system, looking out for each other, not just our friends, but people we don’t know, paying attention, seeing when people look unsafe,” Kline said.
Prince said he felt powerless when he learned about how the woman was victimized. He is among the demonstrators who want to do what they can to ensure that a crime like that doesn’t happen again in Miami Beach.
“It could be my sisters, it could be my cousins, it could be my niece, it could be my friends — a big majority of my crew are women,” Prince said. “If they’re not safe, I’m not safe.”