After warning, police crack down on some MLK weekend ‘Wheels Up, Guns Down’ riders
Miami-Dade Police reported on Monday the results of a strict crackdown on “Wheels Up, Guns Down” riders this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend.
The “Wheels Up, Guns Down” tradition involves people who choose to ride unusual vehicles like ATVs, dirt bikes and scooters on streets and highways during the third Monday of January, the federal holiday dedicated to the civil rights hero.
It started in 2015 to honor the memory of a slain biker killed in Philadelphia, whose case went unsolved, according to Herald archives, and it has since grown into a movement that attracts hundreds of outsiders to South Florida every year.
READ MORE: Police issue warning about ‘Wheels Up, Guns Down’ — to both bike riders and drivers
Although the rides have mostly been peaceful since that first year, law enforcement agencies say some participants drive recklessly, break traffic laws and cause mayhem, as motorists ride over sidewalks, through medians or on the wrong side of the road. The riders, on the other hand, defend their actions as a nonviolent demonstration.
Miami-Dade Police, Miami Police and the Florida Highway Patrol, as well as police departments in Broward County, said last week that anyone who interfered with events in honor of MLK, would face consequences.
According to the press release Monday night, the initiative started Friday and ended at 7 p.m. Monday.
READ MORE: ‘There hasn’t been an escape for us.’ The importance of the Bikes Up, Guns Down movement
According to police, over that time law enforcement officers impounded two ATVs or All-Terrain Vehicles, eight motor or dirt bikes, and 372 grams of cocaine.
They also arrested 57 people on felony charges, 11 people on misdemeanor charges and three people in connection to traffic violations. Three people received moving traffic citations, while two others received non-moving citations.
In addition, police confiscated 10 firearms — nine guns and one rifle — and recovered two stolen vehicles.
FROM 2015: How patient cops, fuming drivers, defiant bikers merged on the road
