New details on deported suspected gangster shatter liberal’s narrative
The so-called deported “Maryland man” Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whom Democrats have been demanding the Trump administration return to the U.S., was previously pulled over by a highway patrol officer while driving a car belonging to a confessed human smuggler, multiple sources in DHS confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The sources confirmed documents reported by Just the News that revealed Abrego Garcia was pulled over driving an SUV belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, another illegal alien who in 2020 confessed to human smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border.
As previously reported by Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal alien whom the Trump administration recently deported back to El Salvador, was pulled over on Dec. 1, 2022, by a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper who stopped him after he was “observed speeding” and unable to stay in his lane.
The trooper noticed eight individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who said he began driving three days prior from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Maryland, via St. Louis, Missouri, to “perform construction work.” The report on the stop states that the trooper suspected it was a human trafficking incident, as there was no luggage in the vehicle. Additionally, the individuals in the car reportedly gave the same address as Abrego Garcia’s home address.
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When speaking with the trooper, Abrego Garcia allegedly “pretended to speak less English than he was capable of and attempted to put encountering officer off-track by responding to questions with questions.” After the incident, the officer decided not to give Abrego Garcia a citation for the driving infractions, but rather to give him a warning for driving with an expired license.
New documents further reveal that Abrego Garcia was driving a black 2001 Chevrolet Suburban that he said belonged to his “boss.” The Suburban was identified by DHS as belonging to Hernandez Reyes, who pleaded guilty to human smuggling after being caught in Mississippi in a car with passengers from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.
According to another document also confirmed by DHS sources, the Homeland Security Investigations Baltimore field office further flagged the vehicle being driven by Abrego Garcia as belonging to a target they suspected of human trafficking or smuggling.
The office said that the “vehicle is used by HSI Baltimore target in human smuggling/trafficking operation. Vehicle makes trips to southern border to pick up non-citizens.”
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According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville, Maryland, in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang.
A federal immigration court in Baltimore further determined Abrego Garcia was not eligible for release because he “failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13.”
The court held that “the fact that a ‘past, proven, and reliable source of infonnation [sic]’ verified the Respondent’s gang membership, rank, and gang name is sufficient to support that the Respondent is a gang member” and that Abrego had “failed to present evidence to rebut that assertion.”
Court records involving Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, have further shown that he is a “violent” repeat wife-beater.
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Fox News obtained the written domestic violence allegations filed in court against Abrego Garcia by his wife in 2021.
In the filing, written in Vasquez’s own handwriting, she alleges Abrego Garcia repeatedly beat her, writing: “At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me.”
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Vasquez alleged that Abrego Garcia punched and scratched her on her eye, leaving her bleeding. He also allegedly threw her laptop on the floor.
She wrote that on another day, Abrego Garcia got angry again, started yelling, and ripped her shirt and shorts off before grabbing her arm and leaving marks.
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Vasquez recalled two times in 2020 that Abrego Garcia hit her.
“In November 2020, he hit me with his work boot,” she wrote. “In August 2020, he hit me in the eye leaving a purple eye.”
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Local Fox affiliate Fox45 reported that court documents further showed that a man named Edwin Ramos, who claimed to be the father of two of Vasquez’s children, filed for custody of the children because he was concerned about the children’s safety, alleging that Vasquez “is dating a gang member.”
Courtroom shifts after key witness in Karen Reed trial changes tune
Kerry Roberts, a close friend of John O’Keefe’s who was with Karen Read and Jennifer McCabe the morning they found him dead in a snowstorm, admitted during cross-examination Wednesday that she did not hear the defendant ask McCabe to make a Google search about hypothermia after they found the body.
“Hos long to die in cold” is the infamous Google search, typo included, at the heart of the 45-year-old Read’s claim that she is being framed by Massachusetts police for the death of her Boston cop boyfriend three years ago.
Roberts, when asked in 2022 in front of a grand jury that would indict Read on a second-degree murder charge, testified that she heard Read ask McCabe to “Google hypothermia” while they were praying near a police car as paramedics lifted O’Keefe out of the snow.
“You painted a very, very detailed picture in front of the grand jury, didn’t you,” defense attorney Alan Jackson asked, pointing to a transcript of Roberts’ testimony behind closed doors in April 2022.
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“Yeah,” she said.
“Except it’s not true, is it?” Jackson followed up.
“I did not hear her ask that,” Roberts said.
Roberts testified that she did not intentionally lie but rather misunderstood the question when she appeared before the grand jury.
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“That’s bad,” said Paul Mauro, a former NYPD inspector who has been following the case.
Experts say the admission could damage her credibility in front of the jury.
“She lied,” said Grace Edwards, a Massachusetts trial attorney who works in nearby Essex County. “She committed perjury in her grand jury testimony. Nothing she says is credible.”
She had a lot to say over two days.
Roberts grew up with O’Keefe but testified that they grew closer as adults, once he adopted the orphaned children of his sister and her husband. O’Keefe’s nephew is a close friend of her son, she testified, and the two played sports and went to school together.
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She also became close with another witness, McCabe, after O’Keefe’s death. The two women were with Read when they found him on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, outside the home of McCabe’s in-laws, Brian and Nicole Albert. The Alberts had invited a group of people over, including Read and O’Keefe, for an after-party on the night he died.
Read’s defense has argued that she never struck O’Keefe and that something else killed him, evidence of which they allege has been concealed due to the Alberts’ ties to law enforcement.
Like O’Keefe, Albert was a Boston police officer. His brother was a member of the Canton Police Department, which was first to respond to the scene. He has another brother in politics, and a family friend, Michael Proctor, was the lead investigator.
Proctor got fired last month as a result of an internal investigation stemming from text messages he sent about the case that were revealed during Read’s first trial last year. Canton police were cleared of allegations of a conspiracy in an independent audit released three weeks ago.
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Roberts had not faced cross-examination in Read’s first trial, which ended in a deadlocked jury.
This time, Jackson questioned Roberts about whether she had concocted a version of events with McCabe beforehand, asking about a meeting she had with McCabe and her sister where they were putting together a “timeline” on the case. During that meeting, Roberts said, police arrived to speak with McCabe and wound up separating them and speaking to them both.
Jackson asked if she was aware that McCabe had texted a group chat about listening in on Roberts’ interview with state police. Roberts said she was not.
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“It looks like she’s been coached by Jennifer McCabe,” Edwards told Fox News Digital.
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Roberts also testified that she had spoken with McCabe the morning before her latest testimony, where she wished her “good luck.” She also sat alongside another childhood friend for a televised interview between her first day of testimony Tuesday and returning to the stand Wednesday.
Edwards told Fox News Digital that the “timeline” Roberts and McCabe put together in 2022 stood out to her as problematic.
“Witnesses are not supposed to talk to each other about the case,” she said.
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During cross-examination, Roberts confirmed she was with McCabe and working on a timeline of events when investigators arrived at McCabe’s house to interview the latter. Roberts said they were putting it together at the request of O’Keefe’s mother, Margaret “Peggy” O’Keefe.
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Judge Beverly Cannone interrupted a line of questioning about whether Roberts was aware that McCabe had allegedly texted others about eavesdropping on her own interview, which was supposed to be happening in a different room, after special prosecutor Hank Brennan raised objections.
Roberts revealed she never actually heard Read ask McCabe to perform the Google search, despite providing testimony to a grand jury claiming she had.
“The timeline you wrote with Jennifer McCabe’s help influenced your testimony to testify in front of the grand jurors to a statement that you never heard, correct?” Jackson asked.
WATCH: What role will motive play in the Karen Read retrial?
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“Yes,” Roberts replied.
The timing of the Google search, “Hos (sic) long to die in cold,” has been a key dispute between prosecutors, who say it came after O’Keefe’s body was discovered, and the defense, which argues that it was made hours beforehand, before the witnesses should have known he was missing or dead under the commonwealth’s timeline.
Digital forensics experts are expected to delve into phone data about the search for both sides.
The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks after taking more than two weeks to seat a jury.
Read could face a maximum of life in prison if convicted of the top charge, second-degree murder.
Former US soldier sentenced for selling national defense secrets to China
A former U.S. Army intelligence analyst was sentenced to seven years in prison on Wednesday for giving sensitive military information to a person he believed was affiliated with the Chinese government.
Korbein Schultz, 25, of Wills Point, Texas, pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiring to collect and transmit national defense information, unlawfully exporting controlled information to China, and accepting bribes in exchange for sensitive, non-public U.S. government information.
From May 2022 until his arrest in March 2024, Schultz engaged in an ongoing conspiracy to provide dozens of sensitive U.S. military documents — many of which contained export-controlled tactical and technical information — directly to a foreign national living in the People’s Republic of China, according to court documents.
Despite “clear indications” the person he was giving the information to was likely connected to the Chinese government, Schultz continued the relationship in exchange for about $42,000, according to officials.
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Schultz pleaded guilty to giving the person in China his Army unit’s operational order before it was deployed to Eastern Europe in support of NATO operations; lessons learned by the U.S. Army from the Ukraine and Russia conflict, applicable to Taiwan’s defense; technical manuals for the HH-60 helicopter, F-22A fighter aircraft, and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile systems; information on Chinese military tactics and the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force; and details on U.S. military exercises in the Republic of Korea and the Philippines.
He also provided documents concerning U.S. military satellites and missile defense systems like the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, and tactics for countering unmanned aerial systems in large-scale combat operations.
The person Schultz gave information to in China first contacted him through a freelance web-based work platform shortly after Schultz received his Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information clearance, according to court documents.
They allegedly posed as a client from a geopolitical consulting firm, soliciting Schultz to provide detailed analyses on U.S. military capabilities and planning, particularly in relation to Taiwan and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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As the relationship progressed, the Chinese national’s demands grew increasingly specific and sensitive — requesting technical manuals, operational procedures and intelligence assessments.
The conspirator made it clear that he was interested in receiving materials that were not publicly available and encouraged Schultz to seek out higher levels of classification, emphasizing “exclusiveness” and “CUI and better,” according to court documents.
Schultz agreed to send higher levels of classified information to the Chinese man in exchange for money.
Fully aware of the national security implications, Schultz accessed restricted databases, including closed U.S. government computer networks, to download and transmit at least 92 sensitive U.S. military documents, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
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He also attempted to recruit his friend, a fellow Army intelligence analyst, into the conspiracy.
At the time, Schultz’s friend was assigned to the U.S. Department of Defense’s Indo-Pacific Command, the combatant command that covers China and its regional areas of influence.
Schultz and the Chinese conspirator talked about needing to recruit another person who had better access to classified material, agreeing to do so in a “nice and slow fashion,” according to court documents.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi said Schultz betrayed his oath to defend the U.S., putting America’s military and service members at risk.
“The Justice Department remains vigilant against China’s efforts to target our military and will ensure that those who leak military secrets spend years behind bars,” Bondi wrote in a statement provided by the DOJ.
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Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel added service members are a “prime target” for the People’s Republic of China.
“This sentencing is a stark warning to those who betray our country: you will pay a steep price for it,” Patel wrote in a statement. “The People’s Republic of China is relentless in its efforts to steal our national defense information, and service members are a prime target. The FBI and our partners will continue to root out espionage and hold those accountable who abandon their obligation to safeguard defense information from hostile foreign governments.”
A vintage car was recently discovered during an underwater excavation of the USS Yorktown in the Pacific Ocean, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The ship was a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that took part in several World War II operations.
A Japanese submarine ultimately sunk the vessel in 1942 during the Battle of Midway.
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The NOAA announced the findings after completing its “Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping expedition.”
“During the dive on April 19, we noticed a faint outline of an automobile while peering into the aft hangar deck from the port side of USS Yorktown,” stated the press release.
Researchers identified the black car as a 1940-41 Ford Super Deluxe “Woody,” with the words “SHIP SERVICE ___ NAVY” written on part of its front plate.
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“This car is hypothesized to have been used for Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Captain Elliott Buckmaster, or other ship crew while USS Yorktown was conducting business in foreign ports,” the release added.
Images show the car’s rectangular rear windows, chrome detail on the fenders, a split windshield, and chrome bumper with a spare tire on the back.
Divers also discovered a hand-painted mural located inside one of the ship’s elevator shafts.
Titled “A Chart of the Cruises of the USSYorktown,” the mural shows a world map tracking the voyages of Yorktown.
The mural measures 42 feet by 12 feet, with motifs showcasing the pride the sailors had for the ship and detailing the global scale of the vessel’s role in defending the US, the release shared.
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The shipwreck was first discovered in 1988 by the U.S. Navy and the National Geographic Society.
Marine hopeful suspended from school after American flag controversy
The Baltimore County Public School system has allegedly suspended a high school student after he pushed his school to hang American flags in two of his classrooms that did not have flags displayed, as required by state law.
Parker Jensen, an 18-year-old Marine Corps enlistee, has since sued the school district, arguing he was wrongfully suspended for voicing his concerns about the flags at Towson High School, north of Baltimore. The flags were missing from two of his classrooms, and he approached the Baltimore Board of Education about the issue.
“He really thought there’d be something that could be resolved easily, and he was looking forward to finishing out his senior year,” Jensen’s attorney, Sarah Spitalnick, told Fox News Digital. “He’s definitely discouraged that the school took this route in the way they retaliated and punished him. And it did… put a big damper on his senior year. At this point, he’s still not allowed to go to prom. … He still has teachers that he knows do not like him. That could affect his grades and affect his ability to graduate.”
The issue began in February, when Jensen — also the quarterback and captain of the Towson High School football team — noticed that two of his classrooms were missing American flags despite the fact that Maryland state law mandates that flags need to be in all public school classrooms.
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“This experience has impacted me personally in both positive and negative ways,” Jensen told Fox News Digital in a statement. “On the negative side, I was suspended and trespassed unlawfully, had my character unfairly defamed by my administration, and was treated poorly by my teacher upon returning to school. Those moments were difficult and disheartening.
“However, on the positive side, I believe my persistence in standing up for patriotism may have opened others eyes to the importance of patriotism in our school systems,” Jensen said. “At the end of the day, I believe it was beneficial, not just for me, but for the entire school community. It serves as a reminder that it is our responsibility, as citizens, to hold our government accountable and I believe I did just that within my school.”
I believe my persistence in standing up for patriotism may have opened others eyes to the importance of patriotism in our school systems
Jensen approached his school’s assistant principal about the issue in February, which went unresolved, and then brought it up again in March. Jensen said he received no response as of March 28, when he approached the Baltimore Board of Education about the issue.
BCPS told Fox News Digital in a statement that it has no comment on the lawsuit and noted that “Towson High School was already in the process of placing flags in those classrooms and the claims of inaction are inaccurate.”
Jensen visited the board’s office in person on March 28 to file a formal complaint during regular business hours, the lawsuit states.
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Jensen signed in as a visitor and recorded his actions with supervisors during his visit to the office, according to the complaint, which notes that there were no signs prohibiting recording, and Jensen had a right to record in the public building.
“A supervisor emerged from behind a secure glass door and asked if Plaintiff was recording. Plaintiff confirmed he was, asserting his constitutional right to do so,” the lawsuit reads. “The supervisor demanded Plaintiff stop recording and leave the building, despite his presence in a public area and lack of disruptive behavior. Plaintiff declined to leave, citing his right to be in a public building to file a complaint. Approximately five minutes later, Police Officer Smith … and four other officers arrived, responding to a call from Board staff.”
The five officers who responded to the scene apparently told Jensen he needed to be a credentialed journalist to record in the school board’s building.
“Instead of just putting up the flags, the school fought him at every turn and then suspended him, punished him, violated his due process rights.”
“They had the police just escort him out. The police also made statements that only reporters can film within their property, which is completely false,” Spitalnick said. “They lied to him and basically said that what he was doing was unlawful when, really, he has every right to do what he did.”
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In his video, Jensen can be heard saying, “Three cop cars for a kid? Five cop cars?”
He then turns to one of the responding officers and asks, “You don’t think that’s a waste of resources, sir?” to which the officer shakes his head no, as FOX 45 first reported.
Towson High School Principal Kimberly Culbertson allegedly called Jensen’s mother on March 28, saying that her son was acting “unhinged,” “disrespectful,” and was “‘impersonating a journalist,’ and would be arrested and suspended,” the complaint reads.
Baltimore County Public School officials then barred Jensen from all BCPS central office properties, with the school district citing his “disruptive” and “threatening” behavior and suspended the high school senior until April 8, the complaint states.
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“Plaintiff received no hearing or opportunity to contest the suspension before it was imposed,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit further accused BCPS of retaliating against Jensen’s expression of his First Amendment rights, violating his 14th Amendment rights and defamation.
Jensen argues in the complaint that his high school has promoted T-shirts showing the LGBTQ pride flag and posted fliers showing “immigration support and resources” information, all while suspending Jensen for “demanding American flags in classrooms and the right to pledge allegiance, as required by Maryland law.”
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“[H]e faced retaliation for championing the military and a secure border, and for defending Donald Trump, and Elon Musk. As this lawsuit details, Jensen’s school pushes every left-wing cause, while punishing him for honoring the American flag and expressing his right-wing viewpoint,” the complaint says.
McDonald’s is adding a crispy brand-new item to its US menu — and it’s permanent
McDonald’s has a new permanent menu item, McCrispy Strips, coming to its U.S. menu.
The fast-food giant revealed that participating restaurants across the country will have McCrispy Strips as a permanent offering by May 5. Some locations, however, are beginning to offer it to customers on Thursday.
A “savory, sweet and tangy” creamy chili sauce is launching alongside them, McDonald’s said.
As the McCrispy Strips arrive, they will become McDonald’s first new permanent menu item in about four years, according to the company. They also mark the latest chicken offering that the chain has rolled out.
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“The demand for chicken strips has been remarkable to see across the industry, so we knew we had to deliver something so craveable that it was worth the wait,” Alyssa Buetkofer, McDonald’s chief marketing and customer experience officer, said in a statement. “We took our time, listened to our fans, and created a product we knew they would crave.”
The McCrispy Strips consist of “chicken strips made with juicy, 100% white meat, coated with crispy golden-brown breading and bursting with a bold, new black pepper flavor,” the chain said.
McDonald’s will sell them in counts of three or four. The former will be paired with one container of Creamy Chili Dip sauce, while the latter will offer two, according to McDonald’s.
Their launch comes roughly two-and-a-half months after CEO Chris Kempczinski told analysts and investors in February that McDonald’s was looking to introduce chicken strips to U.S. restaurants.
The company also has a comeback of its Snack Wraps in the pipeline for the U.S. “along with a few other markets” this year, Kempczinski said at the time. It has been about nine years since McDonald’s offered that item in its American restaurants.
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He detailed other plans for McDonald’s chicken business, too, including increasing the availability of its McCrispy sandwich from its current 70-plus markets to “nearly all” by the end of 2025 and continuing to “pulse in” the Chicken Big Mac “as a limited time-only offering over time.”
“We’re excited about the significant opportunity we see within our chicken portfolio and see the potential to add another point of chicken market share by the end of 2026,” Kempczinski said in February.
MCDONALD’S PLANS MORE CHICKEN OFFERINGS
In its annual report, McDonald’s said its chicken moves are among its “planned innovations and new menu offerings” that “reflect the Company’s ability to meet evolving customer preferences.”
In 2024, the company generated $25.9 billion in revenues, and its annual net income was $8.2 billion.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MCD | MCDONALD’S CORP. | 318.35 | -0.77 | -0.24% |
Air Force veteran jumps into key House race to unseat 22-term vulnerable Dem
FIRST ON FOX: Longtime Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is facing a new Republican challenger in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District in the form of Air Force veteran Alea Nadeem, who spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital about her campaign.
This country saved me, I owe my life to this country,” Nadeem, a northwest Ohio native, told Fox News Digital, recounting her harrowing life story of being kidnapped by her father and taken to Iraq, where she lived under the rule of Saddam Hussein before the U.S. government worked to bring her back.
Nadeem joined the Air Force in response to the events of 9/11 and never planned on leaving the nonpartisan military world for politics until she spent time on Capitol Hill in recent years and realized that life for people in her district was not improving.
“I got to see firsthand all the things that were happening, and I’ve got to tell you, my hometown where I grew up was not better off,” Nadeem said. “I was seeing the policies that people were voting on, and especially the current person, Marcy Kaptur, who’s been here for almost 43 years. I didn’t think they were voting in a way that actually helped the way I grew up, blue-collar families.”
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Kaptur, who narrowly won re-election in 2024 by less than 1 percentage point, is widely considered one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the House. Her district will be home to one of the most highly watched races as Republicans attempt to hold a thin majority in the chamber.
Cook Political Report ranks the race as a “Democrat toss up” in a state that Trump carried by over 10 points.
Kaptur faced criticism during last year’s campaign for introducing only five bills that became law in 41 years.
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Nadeem told Fox News Digital that even people she talks to who “love” Kaptur agree that 22 terms in Congress is too much.
“It’s time to pass the torch,” Nadeem said. “One of the things that they’ve all said to me is they were really scared to pass a torch the last two times. They didn’t feel like they had a candidate who could really step into her shoes. And so I’ve heard, I call it kitchen table talk. They haven’t found somebody worthy to pass the torch to, but they also fully understand it’s time. Everyone has been like, it’s enough. We get it, 43 years. So I think they’re looking for the next guardian to be able to do that. Someone they can trust. And I’m really hoping to step into that.”
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Nadeem spoke to Fox News Digital about the issues she plans to focus on during the campaign. At the top of the list are jobs and manufacturing.
“This is near and dear to my heart,” Nadeem said, adding that making sure “we’re not hollowing out the northwest and these blue-collar jobs” is her “number one priority.”
Nadeem said bringing fiscal responsibility to Washington, D.C., will be another priority.
“I looked at 1983, when Marcy Kaptur was in office, I think the debt was around, that the United States debt was around like $1.6 trillion, and now it’s $36 trillion,” Nadeem said. “So you can just see like, under Democratic leadership, we have not done better. So we need to get our fiscal house in order because I know people in northwest Ohio really rely on Social Security and Medicare. And I call those earned benefits. And if we can’t balance our checkbook, we can’t pay for those things. And so I do think people deserve that.”
Spring break crime in vacation hot spot plummets as mayor credits unconventional tactics
The mayor of Miami Beach, Florida said that a viral reality TV-themed public service announcement helped the city drastically reduce spring break crime for the second year in a row, leaving residents grateful for the effort.
Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner took office at the end of 2023, after years of spring break turmoil that left local businesses in shambles and residents irked.
After working with city, county and state authorities to curb chaos during spring break in 2024, the city’s comprehensive “Reality Check” campaign came to life in 2025.
“I mean, we had [in] the prior years literally killings on our street,” Meiner told Fox News Digital. “We had other shootings, basically modified stampedes, just from literally a level of lawlessness and chaos – jumping on police cars – it was just not tolerable.”
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“And this year, the follow-up was the same measures,” Meiner said. “Same police presence, same result again for the governor came down for a press conference here, and it was a reality check. This is the reality of what’s going to happen here if you don’t play by the rules.”
The “Reality Check” video, viewed more than 53,000 times since it was posted on Feb. 4, shows an eager cast of spring break characters ready to run amok in the city. Along the way, they are disappointed to learn that Miami Beach has strict rules for spring breakers and plans to enforce those rules, leaving them disappointed.
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Those rules ranged from enforcing volume levels of speakers on the beach to implementing security and DUI checkpoints citywide. Throughout spring break, there was a citywide 6 p.m. curfew and $100 parking fees, which made it cost prohibitive for some partiers to access hot spots.
The city enlisted state troopers and county police to help local police enforce the strict rules.
“I’d come back to Miami Beach, just not for spring break,” a cast member says at the end of the video.
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Meiner couldn’t be happier with the results.
“The results have been phenomenal,” Meiner said. “I mean success at every level you measure it. No killings, no shootings, no major incidents, no stampedes. I can tell you … literally from the hoteliers to restaurants to businesses, everyone’s appreciative. And literally, almost universally, our businesses are very appreciative of the steps we took, and [it was] a major success for our city.”
Residents are thrilled with the outcome too, according to Meiner.
“And it’s just amazing,” he said. “No matter where you go in our city, even people who live, you know, six, seven miles away from where the activity took place, nobody wanted to see their city viewed in a negative light. They’re so appreciative.”
Miami Beach is not the only city looking to cast off its chaotic spring break reputation.
Panama City Beach Mayor Stuart Tettemer told Fox News Digital that his city has upped its spring break crime deterrence efforts.
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“Panama City Beach has taken aggressive steps to maintain order during the Spring Break period, including targeted evening beach closures, enhanced enforcement zones, mutual aid partnerships, and public-private screening efforts at Pier Park,” Tettermer said.
“PCB is committed to law and order, acting swiftly with law enforcement to keep the community safe and family-friendly, and working with responsible businesses to ensure the unruly spring break legacy stays in the past.”