MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A concerned community is hoping a rally being held this weekend will get the attention of Miami Beach officials more than a week after, police said, a woman was raped while rollerblading on the Beachwalk.
7News cameras captured pedestrians and bicyclists on the Beachwalk on a crowded Friday night. It was an entirely different look from what happened between 23rd and 24th streets on July 16.
The alarming ambush rocked Miami Beach’s skate community. Skateboarder Vik Pagan spoke with 7News on Friday.
“These things cannot happen, and they cannot be dismissed or normalized,” she said.
It’s why a rally will be held on the Beachwalk on Saturday. Members of the city’s skate community — long boarders, skateboarders, rollerbladers and others — are invited there for a solidarity skate aimed at taking back the boardwalk.
“Miami’s athletic community, anybody who utilizes this boardwalk [is invited],” said Pagan.
Pagan will be on hand with her friends and fellow skaters.
“We need action. We need to be having these conversations with the [city’s] representatives, with the mayor,” she said.
Thursday afternoon, a 7News crew tried to talk with Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner at Collins Park, but he kept avoiding reporter Sheldon Fox and his photographer.
Fox wanted to hear more about the mayor’s memo. It calls for police to be investigated and possibly prosecuted for giving out sensitive information to the news media.
Meiner’s memo was presented days after Keith Hill Jr., the accused rapist in the Beachwalk case, was caught. Police said news coverage helped them identify the wanted sex offender.
Meiner left the event he was attending on Thursday without addressing the memo, so the 7News crew never got to hear his point of view.
Beachwalk skaters, however, will present their point of view on Saturday.
“[The attack] touched everybody in a way that we cannot let this, one, happen again, and two, just let it go unnoticed,” said Pagan.
The rally to “Take Back the Boardwalk” was set to start at 5 p.m. on the Beachwalk at 24th Street, but organizers have since pushed the start time to 7 p.m. to allow more people to participate.
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