Wondering what that excessive honking was in Coral Gables, Miami and Brickell? It’s about Trump
The sound of honking cars is as synonymous with Miami as croquetas, beaches and the Heat, but on Saturday that honking turned excessive and had residents wondering what was going on.
An organized caravan of cars was blasting horns, waving flags and shouting through megaphones letting the world know about their support for President Donald Trump.
Miami police said the caravan was driving from Coral Gables through the city of Miami and into the Brickell area. Police said no incidents had been reported.
Posts about the noise the caravan was creating started to flood social media around noon and continued well into the afternoon.
One fed-up Brickell resident told the Miami Herald, “I pay a fortune to live here, and I don’t want all this garbage thrown at my face.”
The man has lived in Brickell for about 18 years, been in Miami-Dade for much longer, and said he has never seen a caravan like this.
The caravan had their car windows painted with slogans like “Vote for Trump,” “No Communism,” “Viva Trump,” “Free Cuba, “Cambio es ya” (change is now) and “Abajo La Dictadura” (down with dictatorships).
As the caravan drove on, people hung out their sunroofs and windows waving Trump, U.S. and several Latin countries’ flags.
Beatrice Ponce, who has lived in Miami-Dade for about 25 years, said she was driving through Brickell when she saw the caravan. She said it stopped traffic for about 50 minutes as all the cars drove through. She was happy to see such support.
“I think this is something that needs to be addressed. In the last few years, we’ve seen liberals being able to speak and conservatives being silenced,” Ponce said.
She said those participating in the caravan were mostly young.
“What surprised me the most was to see young people doing this,” Ponce said. “I was very happy to see kids fighting and saying they do not want communism in the U.S.”
On social media, there weren’t many who were happy to see the caravan disrupting traffic as it drove through.
Some on social media speculated that the caravan might have been a response to Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders saying Sunday evening during a “60 Minutes” interview that he condemned Fidel Castro’s authoritarian regime but praised Castro’s hand in helping literacy in Cuba.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 6:00 PM.
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)