Burning Buildings, Liberty City Riot, 1980Fair use image

The 1980 race riots in Miami’s Liberty City and Overtown neighborhoods was sparked after the acquittal of four White Miami-Dade police officers who beat a Black motorcyclist to death then attempted to hide the crime. On May 17, 1980, the mostly-Black neighborhood erupted in violence after an all-white, all-male Tampa jury didn’t find sufficient evidence to convict the cops.

The incident that sparked the rioting occurred on December 17, 1979 when Arthur McDuffie, a U.S. Marine veteran and businessman, was riding his Kawasaki motorcycle through the neighborhood. The Miami-Dade officers gave chase claiming McDuffie was going 80-plus miles per hour. Officers said after McDuffie lost control of his bike he sped off on foot. According to the officers’ initial reports, McDuffie was involved in a scuffle with the cops with a reported six to eight officers present at the scene.

Later testimony by Officer Charles Veverka revealed that the cops struck McDuffie with nightclubs and their fists until he lay still. Veverka also said that one of the cops ran over McDuffie’s bike with their car to make it appear he had a bad wreck. Another officer, William Hanlon, claims he was the cop who choked McDuffie to the ground while officer Alex Marrero struck him with a heavy-duty flashlight.

The cops who testified in exchange for immunity were given lesser charges, save for Hanlon, who says he was the cop who ran over the motorbike. Mark Meier, another officer who testified against the defendants in the Tampa trial, said that McDuffie actually surrendered at one point. Two other officers, Herbert Evans, Jr. and Ubaldo Del Toro, were charged as accessories to the crime but both walked as well. On May 8, the judge in the case acquitted Del Toro and said that state prosecutors failed to make a case despite the testimonies.

On May 17, the jury acquitted the remaining cops, leading to the riots. Liberty City residents began rioting and burning cars, while reportedly attacking whites in the street. Gov. Bob Graham called in the National Guard. In three days of rioting, 17 were reported dead and over 1,000 arrested. The area was declared a disaster zone. Then President Jimmy Carter came to Miami and asked the community to quell the tension and take action before he would approve much needed federal assistance.

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1770 – Marie Antoinette, at age 14, married the future King Louis XVI of France, who was 15.

1866 – The U.S. Congress authorized the first 5-cent piece to be minted.

1868 – U.S. President Andrew Johnson was acquitted during the Senate impeachment, by one vote.

1879 – The Treaty of Gandamak between Russia and England set up the Afghan state.

1881 – In Germany, the first electric tram for the public started service.

1888 – The first demonstration of recording on a flat disc was demonstrated by Emile Berliner.

1888 – The capitol of Texas was dedicated in Austin.

1910 – The U.S. Bureau of Mines was authorized by the U.S. Congress.

1914 – The American Horseshoe Pitchers Association (AHPA) was formed in Kansas City, Kansas.

1920 – Joan of Arc was canonized in Rome.

1929 – The first Academy Awards were held in Hollywood.

1939 – The Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians met at Shibe Park in Philadelphia for the first baseball game to be played under the lights in the American League.

1946 – “Annie Get Your Gun” opened on Broadway.

1946 – Jack Mullin showed the world the first magnetic tape recorder.

1948 – The body of CBS News correspondent George Polk was found in Solonika Bay in Greece. It had been a week after he’d disappeared.

1960 – A Big Four summit in Paris collapsed due to the American U-2 spy plane incident.

1960 – Theodore Maiman, at Hughes Research Laboratory in California, demonstrated the first working laser.

1963 – After 22 Earth orbits Gordon Cooper returned to Earth, ending Project Mercury.

1965 – Spaghetti-O’s were sold for the first time.

1969 – Venus 5, a Russian spacecraft, landed on the planet Venus.

1971 – U.S. postage for a one-ounce first class stamp was increased from 6 to 8 cents.

1975 – Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

1977 – Five people were killed when a New York Airways helicopter, idling on top of the Pan Am Building in Manhattan, toppled over, sending a huge rotor blade flying.

1985 – Michael Jordan was named Rookie of the Year in the NBA.

1987 – The Bobro 400 set sail from New York Harbor with 3,200 tons of garbage. The barge travelled 6,000 miles in search of a place to dump its load. It returned to New York Harbor after 8 weeks with the same load.

1988 – A report released by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop declared that nicotine was addictive in similar was as heroin and cocaine.

1988 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police do not have to have a search warrant to search discarded garbage.

1991 – Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress.

1992 – The Endeavour space shuttle landed safely after its maiden voyage.

1996 – Admiral Jeremy “Mike” Boorda, the nation’s top Navy officer, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after some of his military awards were called into question.

1997 – In Zaire, President Mobutu Sese Seko gave control of the country to rebel forces ending 32 years of autocratic rule.

2000 – U.S. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton was nominated to run for U.S. Senator in New York. She was the first U.S. first lady to run for public office.

2003 – Adam Rich was placed on three years probation after he pled no contest to misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was also ordered to take part ina 60-day treatment program and pay about $1,200 in fines.

2005 – Sony Corp. unveiled three styles of its new PlayStation 3 video game machine.

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On April 25, the Grand Rapids police chief finally released the name of the officer who murdered Patrick Lyoya, but this is not enough. This officer is still on administrative leave and not being held accountable for Lyoya’s murder. We must continue to put pressure on the city’s officials as we demand justice for Patrick Lyoya.

—— 4/21/22 ——-

“He was more than a role model, somebody that you look up to,” Jimmy Barwan said about his cousin Patrick Lyoya, who was brutally murdered by a police officer in early April.

Here’s what we know:

On April 4, Patrick Lyoya was shot in the back of the head by a Grand Rapids, Michigan police officer, during a traffic stop. Last week, in response to community demands for transparency and accountability, officials released brutal bodycam footage showing the police officer kneeling on Patrick’s back and murdering him, execution-style. 

And while Patrick’s family and neighbors take to the streets to demand justice for their loved one, Grand Rapids officials have gone silent. The city’s police department is still withholding the name of Patrick’s murderer. In fact, the Grand Rapids Police Department (GRPD) just put the officer on paid leave. 

After murdering a community member, the police officer is on a taxpayer-funded vacation. This is despicable, inhumane, and far too common in this country.

We will not remain silent or let officials sweep this case under the rug. Add your name to demand justice for Patrick Lyoya now. 

Patrick Lyoya was a 26-year-old Congolese refugee who moved to Michigan in 2014. Patrick was also a brother, a son, a father of two young girls, and he should be alive today. But a militarized, unaccountable police force murdered him — tearing another family apart and forcing yet another community to mourn a senseless and preventable death. 

Patrick’s father said “My life has come to an end” and his mother is “deeply hurt and wounded.”

Patrick’s murder has sent shockwaves through his community as well. His loved ones and neighbors will have to carry that trauma and psychological pain for days, weeks, months, years. And unless we take action now, Patrick’s family and community will live with the fear that GRPD can murder again with impunity. 

That’s why, standing with the Grand Rapids community, we must demand action from elected officials to seek justice and accountability for Patrick Lyoya. These demands will not only seek action in response to his murder, but will also get us one step closer to the structural change we need to keep Black people safe — in Grand Rapids and across the country. 

Stand with us to demand justice for Patrick: 

1. Disclose the name of the police officer who shot and killed Patrick, and fire the officer immediately. 

2. Demand a thorough federal investigation into both Patrick’s murder and the history and culture of racist violence in the Grand Rapids Police Department.

3. Demand local and state elected officials invest in community-led alternatives to policing that would have prevented this senseless murder from happening in the first place — and take REAL action now to keep Black people safe. 

Patrick Lyoya should still be alive. Our communities deserve and demand real safety — a world where our loved ones can make it home safe and whole at the end of the day. Where no one lives in fear of police violence and brutality. It’s on us to fight for that world, and to make sure what happened to Patrick never happens again. 

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