The Hallandale Beach police department in Broward County, FL shared photos from over the weekend of Border Patrol agents “assisting with keeping the beach safe and closed”:
U.S. Border Patrol assisting with keeping the beach safe and closed. #SaferAtHome #SafeCleanInformed pic.twitter.com/2aYavowdy6
— Hallandale Beach PD (@HallandaleBchPD) March 28, 2020
According to a police spokesperson, it was just a “chance encounter” however:
Hallandale Beach PD spokesperson tells me this was a “chance encounter” between local police officers and CBP agents patrolling the area. Says there’s “no partnership” between the agencies.
— Aaron Leibowitz (@aaron_leib) March 28, 2020
But more importantly, there’s a media narrative that the beaches are *still* open all over Florida and that’s just not true:
#7DroneCam was above a deserted Fort Lauderdale Beach pic.twitter.com/YXMdI3JVnn
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) March 28, 2020
Hollywood Beach:
Everything in my town closed two weeks ago, and this before Fort Lauderdale and Miami took action. (Hollywood). Heavy police patrolling and no one goes on barrier islands except for residents ( barrier islands are the only access to Hollywood beaches). pic.twitter.com/FGxrxqg49u
— The Battle of Hamberder Hill (@Nulli_Secunda_3) March 29, 2020
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Miami Beach:
I have the world webcams app and earlier was looking at Miami Beach which is empty ( as they have closed the beach due to Conorvirus ) but look what I spotted ( there are 7 of them ) pic.twitter.com/8zQoM6IKs2
— Tarnia (@tarniaadams) March 29, 2020
But, there are places in the state that do still have their beaches open (it’s been left up to local governments):
This picture is from 3pm today.
You can see exactly where Duval County ends and St. John’s County begins.
All beaches in Duval are closed, while St. John’s only blocked parking at the beach.
Gov. DeSantis needs to order a state-wide closure of all Florida beaches. pic.twitter.com/JfKzCGCPLq
— Travis Akers (@travisakers) March 28, 2020
This beach was later closed after the photo went viral:
All public beaches in St. Johns County are closed to public access under the local state of emergency, effective 6 a.m. on Sunday, March 29, and will remain closed until further notice. For more information, please visit https://t.co/irQqRtVFJx or call 904.824.5550.
— St. Johns County (@StJohnsCounty) March 28, 2020
There is some question on how many of these people are tourists and how many are residents, however:
I should have taken pictures. People I saw walking to the beach today included: jeans. tube socks in sandals. black shirts. remote-controlled car? unleashed dogs. tailgate tents. sneakers.
It's just obvious how many people are in our community that don't live here.
— American Journalists Publish Chinese Propaganda (@JohnEkdahl) March 29, 2020
With that said, Florida has set up checkpoints at the Alabama border and soon at the Georgia border to make sure those from hard-hit areas quarantine for 14 days:
This is what is coming to I-95 in Florida. Checkpoints already set up on I-10 near Alabama. FL Governor says they are enforcing a 14 day quarantine for anyone from NY, Louisiana, or other COVID-19 hot zone states.
Thanks for the pictures @LindseyGirardi . pic.twitter.com/o2qMOcjpGH— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 28, 2020