McDuffie: The Case Behind Miami’s Riots

By Patrice Gaines-Carter

Vol.

2, No. 7, , pp.

The story has changed several times since its beginning the morning of December 17, in Miami, Florida.

Overtown riots

It was about a.m when police officers there say they spotted Arthur Lee MeDuffie, a Black insurance executive, doing daredevil stunts on his motorcycle.

After a high-speed chase, McDuffie was caught. At least a dozen police officers encircled him.

For 20 minutes, according to reports, they beat him with nightsticks and flashlights. Four days later, after slipping into a coma, McDuffie, 33, was dead.

Arthur mcduffie biography wikipedia

The police officers wrote up an accident report, saying McDuffie sustained injuries when his motorcycle hit a curb and went out of control. But, the pieces didn’t fit. The Dade County medical examiner became suspicious.

Rumors about the “accident” were whispered throughout the police department, prompting an internal investigation of the case.

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