Miami Police Released The Number Of Local Arrests & It's Nowhere Near The Mayor’s Total

After a weekend of demonstrations across the country, protest arrests in Florida had been linked to "outsiders." However,  the Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police (MDCACP) released their arrests totals on Monday, showing that a majority of those arrested were of Miami residents. The information conflicts recent statements made by the city's mayor.

"I think we only had three arrests on Sunday and two of them from people who weren't even from Miami, Mayor Francis Suarez said on Fox News on Tuesday. "On Saturday, we had 57, and only 13 were Miami residents."

According to the Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation Department, when they confirmed home addresses on the arrest forms, they found that 28 of the 35 detained were from the county. Four were from Broward, one was from Orlando, as well as one from Pennsylvania and Texas. The report was posted on Monday, on the department's Twitter account.

Of those detained, the department says the most common charge was due to curfew violation.

As it stands, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez has enacted a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew every night until further notice.

During a Sunday news conference, Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina said to not "bring hate and anger here,” in response to the numbers that suggested individuals from out of town were protesting in the area.

In the post by Miami-Dade County Association of Chiefs of Police, it was stated that of the 57 arrests made on Sunday night, 44 were from out of town. They would later post a "correction" on Twitter that evening, clarifying that 36 of the arrested individuals were from Miami-Dade County.

Despite the correction of the regional demographics, Mayor Suarez continued to make rounds on news programs, like CNBC, to comment on the low numbers during the weekend demonstrations.

Juan Diasgranados, Miami-Dade Corrections spokesman, gave a different reason as to why the city had a lower total of arrests.

"It's important to understand that just because their license says one address, doesn't mean they live there," Diasgranados told the Miami Herald. "For example, they could have an address registered out of state and be going to school down here." 

The protests in South Florida were sparked by the death of George Floyd, who died after being pinned down on the neck by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.