Washington Post
March 24, 2021
Even for South Beach, the country’s premier tropical party place, mayhem hit surreal heights this past week — a turn of events turbocharged by Florida’s nonexistent covid-19 rules and Miami Beach’s longtime lax approach to late-night raucousness.
A 24-year-old woman visiting from Pennsylvania was drugged, raped and found dead in her hotel room, according to police. Two out-of-towners have been arrested. A man was shot and killed. Random gunfire has pierced the air. An Ocean Drive restaurant was trashed — inside and out — by fighting customers. Cars randomly stopped on the street, refusing to budge, as crowds partied.
Fights broke out. People stomped on cars. People got stampeded. A man, disguised as the Joker from “Batman,” stood on a car and rained down dollar bills on throngs of people. Egging on a cheering, mask-free crowd, a woman rolled down her bikini bottom and twerked from the hood of a police car.