During the spring of 1980,the trial for Arthur McDuffie, predictably ended in the acquittal of four white police officers by an all white jury. The officers were originally indicted for the beating to death of McDuffie after he led police on a chase with his motorcycle. Following the acquittal, the city of Miami faced racial hostility from local residents in the Liberty City and Overtown sections of Miami who proceeded to riot in one of the worst race-related cases in U.S. history. They also eventually took to the streets with massive mobilization and patrolling efforts to keep local law enforcement agencies at bay. These same Black communities were pushed to this point because of their frustration with the unfair treatment they had undergone in the 1970s by civic leaders including economic deprivation brought on by highway 95 constructed in the heart of their historical district; elite Cuban Americans controlling the city and holding racial biases against their group and  immigration  from Caribbean nations which they blamed for job losses. This aggravation of the black community, many believe, reached a boiling point and spilled over with these riots which included Blacks  randomly selecting white targets for their aggression when they were seen drifting into the black-run districts of the city.
Miami became emblazoned with civil disharmony that continues to this day. The riots of this time period in 1980 resulted in millions of dollars of property damage, National Guards dispatched to the area, all six officers involved in the case fired, a failed suicide attempt by one of the acquitted officers, 18 deaths (both Black and white), a second trial, and finally a 1.1 million dollar settlement given to the McDuffie family by the Dade County Commission.