Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine calls Saturday's police shooting 'horrible'

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine, center in light blue shirt,
was uncharacteristically silent following Saturday's
police-involved shooting that left a man dead on Alton Road.

Here's some important news from the New York Times about this year's Art Basel:

Art Basel Miami Beach, Usually Sun-Soaked, Is Just Soaked This Year

At Scope, a huge satellite art fair in a tent on the beach, John Ferrère, co-owner of Galerie de Nevers in Paris, said there seemed to be fewer people at the fair on Friday and Saturday, but that he had nonetheless sold about $35,000 worth of art — a healthy amount given that his offerings of three artists’ works were in the range of $1,500 to $2,200 each.

“The weather was too violent here,” he said. “I know collectors in high heels who ruined their shoes on the flooded path outside.”

Now the Times is usually pretty thorough, so I'm not sure why their reporter, Nick Madigan, couldn't have worked the phrase "blood-soaked weekend" into his story.

I'm talking, of course, about the stabbing Friday night at the convention center, and the killing on Saturday of a "bank robbery suspect" by a Miami Beach police officer.

Mayor Philip Levine in
crisis mode.

At least one Miami Beach official, like Madigan, couldn't seem to come up with the words to adequately describe Saturday's horrific shooting

The best Miami Beach's Mayor Philip Levine could do — a man who was never at a loss for words when talking about the City's 100th birthday party — was this hollow statement about the killing of a man in broad daylight.

"It's a horrible, an isolated incident and it's tragic for everybody involved," Mayor Philip Levine said. "As we learn more about this incident from Miami-Dade police, from the state attorney’s office, we will make sure to keep everyone informed."

So, while we wait for the mayor to "inform" us, enjoy these photos of a rather lonely-looking Mayor Levine at Art Basel. My favorite is the first photo that shows hizzoner posing in front of a pixelated pornographic mosaic. 

Is Mayor Levine smiling because he's in a room filled
with pornographic art?
(Click images to enlarge)