“In this community, there is a widespread feeling that there are two systems of justice.”
In December of 1979, Miami police officers beat an African American man named Arthur McDuffie into a fatal coma following a high-speed motorcycle chase. Officers tried to cover up the cause of McDuffie’s injuries, falsely attributing them to a vehicular accident. Despite eye-witness accounts of the assault, an all-white Tampa jury, in May of 1980, acquitted the officers of criminal charges including manslaughter.
The verdict led to three days of rioting in Liberty City, Overtown, and nearby areas. The violence included arson, looting, and attacks on white motorists. Eighteen people were killed, hundreds were injured, and close to $100 million in damage was done. The episode highlighted deep racial tensions over policing in Miami.
A year after the riots, I did a report on the still-broken community for the CBS Evening News.
