Dozens of people gathered for a drum circle at South Pointe Park in Miami Beach Sunday despite a new ban which went into effect today prohibiting performances at the park.
The event remained peaceful as community members danced and chanted.
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Some held signs protesting the new ban.
Dozens of Miami Beach police officers were at the park to enforce the new ban.
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The drum circle typically draws hundreds of people to the park every Sunday.
Along with music, there’s also dancing, yoga, and other impromptu entertainment which activists say has been a tradition for the past 10 years.
The drum circle was put in jeopardy earlier this year when city commissioners say they got lots of noise complaints from people who live nearby.
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In a letter, city officials wrote that the performances violate rules for special events which require permits.
The city gave an alternative allowing the drummers to perform at the 10th Street Beachfront but community members say the ban violates their rights.
“This is really an attack on our civil liberties and that’s the way I think most of us feel out here,” Raquel Pacheco. “That we have a few people who live in the high-rise buildings adjacent to this property who are very loud and very active politically and they don’t want to be inconvenienced by the noise.”
