Police seen body-slamming person, shooting pepper balls to disperse crowd in South Beach
Miami Beach Police officers were seen on video Friday night body-slamming a New York man in South Beach and shooting pepper balls toward a crowd that gathered near Ocean Drive.
Friday was the beginning of what police expected to be a busy spring break weekend. Shortly before a man was body slammed by officers and a crowd was pepper sprayed, Miami Beach responded to a man being attacked and beaten in the alleyway of Eighth Street and Collins Court.
As a large crowd of at least 200 people began to gather, police searched for alleged attacker Kenneth Adams, 55. The victim was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Adams was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, police say.
A street over on Ocean Drive, the large crowd had begun blocking Eighth Street, police say. The crowd was allegedly violating the city’s noise ordinance, smoking weed, drinking and acting in a disorderly manner.
Officers say James Harrison, a 19-year-old from New York, was inciting the Ocean Drive crowd and shouting “F--- the police”. He was also said to be pushing and grabbing police who were trying to arrest him for not leaving the area when told to, police say.
When an officer grabbed his wrist to arrest him, Harrison grabbed the police officer’s vest. The officer said he slammed him to the ground to release his grip. After the slam , police struck him with their fists and knees.
WSVN 7 reporter Sheldon Fox tweeted a video from inside the crowd that showed a police officer taking Harrison to the ground, which evoked a reaction from the crowd.
Police say Harrison refused Fire Rescue aid and didn’t complain of any injuries. He was charged with two counts of battery on a police officer, resisting officers, incitement to riot and disorderly conduct.
Two officers were hurt in the arrest and taken to Mount Sinai and released Saturday morning.
Kevin Green, a South Beach resident who witnessed the melee, said the large crowd had gathered on Ocean Drive and Eighth Street to party.
“People were just having fun in that general area,” said Green, who documents the Ocean Drive nightlife on Instagram. “It looked like people were doing Snapchat videos.”
After the crowd saw Harrison body slammed and arrested there was a confrontation between officers and people in the crowd, Green said. Then he heard the pops of pepper balls being fired out of a long gun. He took cover behind a police vehicle as the crowd scattered.
“I heard a pop,” he said. “A bunch of people started running.”
Police used pepper spray and pepper balls to disperse the crowd surrounding them, the report says.
Police anticipated the largest spring break crowds in March, and between Monday and Sunday officers have made 119 arrests, seized 13 guns and issued 866 traffic citations citywide.
Police confrontations with crowds in South Beach during spring break are not an unfamiliar sight.
Last March, Miami Beach Police were involved in several violent altercations, including one incident in which police responded to a brawl at a South Beach bar by tackling one man, punching two others and grabbing a woman by the throat.
At the time, the Miami-Dade County chapter of the NAACP condemned officers’ use of force as racist.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 10:00 PM.
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