The Panama City Beach Police Dept. has a message for the spring break thugs who’ve caused mayhem in their community: You are no longer welcome.
Police Chief J.R. Talamantez posted a now-viral message on Facebook after weeks of mayhem that led to at least two shootings.
“To the future doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, and leaders who came here for a break, you’re appreciated,” the police chief wrote. “You made memories, enjoyed the beach, and showed respect. Most of you went home without problems, and that’s exactly how it should be.”
Then, the chief tore into the gangs of thugs who broke the law.
“If you came with guns, bad intentions, and no respect for this city, we saw you,” he wrote. “You thought you could blend in and get away with it. You were wrong. Our officers were ready, and many of you ended up in handcuffs.”
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The chief then turned to city leaders and urged them to take immediate action to ensure that Panama City Beach will not be turned into yet another war zone.
“Panama City Beach can no longer be a Spring Break town,” Talamantez said. “That time is over. Every year we try to manage it, and every year it brings more challenges. I’m not willing to risk the safety of our city to hold onto something that no longer works.”
“To the good visitors, you’ll always be welcome,” the chief said. “To the idiots, go somewhere else.”
Local residents said they’ve had enough of the out-of-town thugs who terrorized the Florida beach community. More than 1,000 wrote messages that were overwhelmingly in favor of a police crackdown.
“The people who came to our town over the past 2 weeks came to disrupt and destroy,” one resident wrote on Facebook. “Those of us who call this beautiful place home are praying that we can find solutions.”
“As residents, we should not be quarantined or be advised to be cautious and over alert in our neighborhoods or areas we shop due to a group of misfits coming to our town to wreak havoc on those who live here and honestly want a relaxing vacation here,” wrote another. “No More!”
Many tourists were also alarmed at the sheer numbers of “college students” terrorizing local business owners and others.
“We have never been so worried and scared about being in Panama City until we went for our kids spring break,” one horrified tourist wrote. “The amount of people who were walking around with guns, showing them off at the hotel we stayed at and on top of that the shooting that happened at pier park it made us hesitant to ever come back.”
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