As someone who started documenting protests in 1997 as part of my longterm photo project that led to the publication of my book, Protest In The Land Of Plenty, I've covered well over 300 hundred protests all over the country and in several foreign countries, and tonight's protest was in several ways different than any other protest that I've covered in Miami.

First, while this was a largely a protest organized and attended by young people - millennials - I would suspect that most of those young people never participated in a protest before.  

Secondly, and this speaks about the growth of the population in downtown Miami, well over an hour after the protest started and after the group marched north towards the I-395 ramp leading to the Macarthur Causeway, there were groups of people with homemade signs coming off of the Metromover or walking north from the Brickell area looking to join the protesters.

These folks obviously watched or got word of the protest on TV or social media, and decided on the spur of the moment to make a sign and join in.

I've never seen that happen at a protest in this city before, and I find that encouraging of a sense of community and social engagement that has long been missing in this city.

I've just looked at the Herald's coverage, and once again I find myself challenging a Chuck Rabin claim, this time that the protesters only numbered between 300 - 400 when they started marching. My video covers the protest at Bayfront Park and the march north towards I-395, and from TV news reports it looks like more folks joined the protesters and that they made a night of it.

I believe, and the video that I've posted below will show that the number was probably somewhere between 1500 to 2000.

The officers of the Miami Police Department also deserve a shout out. Night time protests are always difficult, but the cops on the street did a good job handling the crowds and the traffic .

Tomorrow night there is supposed to be an even larger protest being scheduled for Wynwood, and let's hope that one goes off peacefully too.

It's Miami, Bitches!