The Miami Riot of 1980 was the first major race riot since the late 1960s. In December 1979, a number of white Miami-Dade (Florida) police officers were involved in a high-speed chase involving black motorist Arthur McDuffie. Police reports said that the chase ended when McDuffie crashed his motorcycle, ultimately leading to his death.  However, coroner reports suggested that the cause of death was not consistent with a motorcycle crash.  Later, a responding officer following the chase testified that there was no crash, and that the police officers had beaten McDuffie to death with their flashlights. Even with the coroner report and the testimony from police and witnesses, an all-white jury concluded the trial on May 17, 1980 with the acquittal of all officers involved in the McDuffie police brutality case.  News spread to the surrounding areas and residents of mostly African American Liberty City, home to half of the city’s black and Afro-West Indian residents, took to the streets in protests which soon turned violent as some protesters began throwing objects at passing white motorists who drove through the area. By nightfall on May 17, the violence escalated into a full blown riot as angry blacks attacked motorists fleeing … Continue reading Miami (Liberty City) Riot, 1980