MIAMI BEACH, FL – South Beach gay activist Herb Sosa has called for end to South Beach’s Urban Weekend, calling the 10-year old hip-hop Memorial Day Weekend event a “war zone”. This year included an early Monday morning shooting leaving one person dead, four more wounded and three injured police officers, despite the heavier than normal police presence keeping an eye on the party-goers.

Many South Beach residents are known to take a short Memorial Day Weekend vacation to Fort Lauderdale to avoid the annual event.

In Sousa’s open letter to the Miami Beach City Commission, he wrote that the problem is the lack of respect the partiers have for the city. “There isn’t a residential street in South Beach not affected by tons of garbage, crime to our vehicles, excessive noise 24 hours a day, and simply a lack of respect for our community, citizens and property.”

Sousa is the former executive director of the Miami Design Preservation League and the Art Deco Weekend Festival.