Protest at Miami Commission Meeting Over Virginia Key Beach Trust Control – NBC 6 South Florida

Dozens of protesters gathered Thursday to call for Miami commissioners to relinquish their takeover of the Virginia Key Beach Trust.

Protesters gathered outside Miami’s city hall, and then took their battle inside the chambers. They started chanting “restore the Trust” during a meeting break, and some demonstrators were escorted outside.

Members of the Black community and other Trust supporters want the board handed back over to its original members, like Gene Tinnie, one of the original co-founders.

Virginia Key Beach was Miami’s first beach that Black members of the community could legally visit during the Jim Crow era.

“Blatant injustice,” Tinnie said of the commission’s takeover.

Commission chairwoman Christine King now heads up the new 7-member board, comprised of her fellow city commission members, and two other positions still open.

“There’s nothing being done to access the money that the voters voted for, to improve Virginia Key Beach,” King told NBC 6’s Jawan Strader, echoing commissioner criticism of the original board.

Miami Commissioner Christine King will be discussing the controversy on Virginia Key on Voices with Jawan Strader.

“The complete audit report totally proves that there was no mismanagement, no malfeasance of course,” Tinnie responded. “Nobody is perfect but certainly those allegations were proved to be totally false.”