A video of beachgoers being beaten by police for not following quarantine rules has been circulating online. Post captions accompanying the video claim that the video was taken in Miami beach.
Blacks don't Fear#COVID19 since it's invisible… Now they're being kicked off Miami Beach 🏖😩😩🤦🏽♂️ pic.twitter.com/9yn3aqpDTB
— Sir H͓͓͓̽̽̽E͓͓̽̽N͓̽RY™ (@SirHenryKau) March 23, 2020
Background
As the number of coronavirus cases rises to almost short of a million, many countries have imposed restrictions in a bid to contain the virus. The United States along with several European countries have implemented a ban limiting the number of gatherings held. In the UK and Germany, no more than two people can be at one place at once.
On 1st March, Florida became the third state in the US to record a COVID-19 case. By March 13th, more people tested positive for the virus including the Mayor of Miami, Francis X. Suarez.
Currently, the State of Florida has almost up to 7,000 cases of Coronavirus and 85 deaths, with the highest number of confirmed cases (2,202) being from Miami-Dade County.
At the height of the college spring break rush coupled with the COVID-19 spread, Florida’s governor Ron Desantis who has been resisting statewide restrictions, refused to shut down beaches deeming it unnecessary, but only limited parties on beaches to 10 people per group.
Spring breakers were reported saying that the virus would not stop them from partying, utterly defying measures being taken to curb the spread of the virus. This earned them fierce criticism for downplaying the severity of the virus.
The Mayors of Miami Beach and Fort Lauderdale, two of the most popular beach destinations in the state, issued orders to close their beaches. Public beaches in Tampa, Naples, Miami-Dade and Clearwater are also closed.
Data firm, TectonixGEO posted a video that it says shows the cell phone activity of spring breakers on just Fort Lauderdale Beach. They wanted to see how social gatherings like spring break beach crowds could impact the society in the face of a global pandemic. It was a way to educate and show them the reality of what is happening, to make them understand why public health measures have to be taken.
Verification
A frame-by-frame analysis of the video shows that a stall by the beach written Itapema. A search for Itapema reveals that it is in fact a city in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Further observation of the video shows that there are mountains in the background. It should be noted that there are no mountains in Miami. However Google images of Itapema match the appearance of the landscape in the video, the visible buildings included.
A better view of Itapema is available on Google Maps.
Moreover, a YouTube search further supports that the video was taken in Brazil, specifically Itapema Beach. See those videos here and here.
The Daily Mail reported that Brazilian police are using various tactics to enforce Coronavirus restrictions.
Verdict
This video was not taken in Miami and the claim is, therefore, FALSE.
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