Police arrested a woman in Florida for refusing to leave a beach while holding a sign that read, “We Are Free.”
Kimberly Falkenstine, 33, was protesting coronavirus-related stay-at-home restrictions, which included the closure of Miami Beach. After she left the designated protest area to sit on the beach, police said they arrested her on charges of violating an emergency order, trespassing, and resisting an officer without violence, according to NBC 6 South Florida.
Officers noticed Falkenstine sitting on the beach holding the sign she had held while participating in a protest in a nearby park, where people had gathered to speak out against South Florida’s stay-at-home order.
“The defendant stated she left the designated protest area and wanted to sit on the beach to make a statement,” the arrest report said about Falkenstine.
The police report said Falkenstine disregarded beach closure signs and plastic barriers to sit on the beach.
Police said Falkenstine refused to leave when asked. “The defendant mentioned that the beach was for the public and that it was her right to be there,” the report stated.
She was held in jail on a $2,500 bond, according to Miami-Dade County records.
Protests for loosening government-imposed stay-at-home orders have popped up across the country, including in places such as California and Michigan.
