With parade off, fewer ATV and motorcycle riders are expected
Groups of mostly young Black men on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles are once again expected to take to South Florida’s roadways on Monday during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. It’s an annual turnout that many riders say is an act of social defiance meant to honor the memory of a legendary Philadelphia biker whose murder seven years ago remains unsolved.
But the event, known as “Wheels Up Guns Down,” also has disrupted traffic and angered other drivers.
So law enforcement from all over South Florida plan to use the latest technology — from radar-equipped planes to cameras and GPS trackers on the ground — to identify riders racing illegally on highways or committing major traffic infractions that could endanger other motorists, like popping wheelies or doing donuts on highways.
But this year, police are also expecting smaller packs of bikers — pointing to a still-growing pandemic, anxiety over a violent insurrection in the nation’s capital. In Miami, there’s another big factor — the cancellation of the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade through city streets. That event goes back decades and in recent years was highlighted by a slow ride west to east down Northwest 54th Street of not only floats, but bikers and ATV enthusiasts.
That could help ease tensions between riders and police, who have taken heat in the past for disrupting what some considered to be mostly a peaceful assembly and what others considered a harmless tradition.
But, as the have in past years, South Florida law enforcement agencies still gathered to warn potential law breakers that they will be tracked.
“We will have zero tolerance on any illegal driving on highways or expressways. Be safe and be smart,” said Florida Highway Patrol Troop Cmdr. Christopher Dellapietra.
Law enforcement agencies also are touting an alternative to the parade and motorized packs. A mass bicycle ride that will depart from Charles Hadley Park, 1350 NW 50th St., at 9:30 a.m. Monday. Masks required. The initiative is being led by MiamiDade’s Community Relations Board and Break the Cycle, a grass roots group that has tried over the years to make bike riding more popular in predominately Black communities.
“It’s riding for a purpose,” said Maurice Hanks. “My purpose is my wife has breast cancer. Cycling isn’t really popular in the urban community.”
Leading the way Monday will be Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez.
“The most important thing is to teach our children how important it is to be civil,” he said.
Law enforcement hopes the anticipated smaller crowds will mean less scenes of flashing patrol vehicles racing through residential neighborhoods trying to catch up to bike and ATV enthusiasts cutting over medians and racing the wrong way down streets. Live broadcasts of the chases have become a staple on local television stations with access to helicopters. Each year dozens of riders, including a number who travel down for the ride from the northeast, are arrested.
The motorcycle and ATV movement began in 2014 in Philadelphia when a legendary dirt biker named Kyrell Tyler was killed. It quickly spread to South Florida’s roadways, in large part because of warm winterweather. At first, police thought the best policy was leaving the riders alone and blocking highway entrances to protect the public. But as the nonviolent movement — which incorporated the motto “Wheels Up Guns Down” — grew, it became a cultural phenomenon attracting riders from all over the world.
And with that, it became more difficult to control and led to law enforcement in Miami-Dade and Broward counties adopting a zero tolerance policy toward any illegal activity on the roadways.
Some, like former Miami-Dade NAACP President Ruban Roberts, don’t quite get the link between the bike ride and the lessons of Dr. King. But, after a summer of social justice protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement, he said the coming celebration has added significance.
“I never understood how it [the Wheels Up Guns Down movement] related to what MLK stood for, maybe other than peaceful assembly” Roberts said. “But the past year’s events have reaffirmed the struggle we’ve had since beyond the civil rights movement.”
‘‘ THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO BE CIVIL.
Miami-Dade Police Director Alfredo “Freddy” Ramirez