MIAMI -- Here is a chronology of Miami's recent racial strife.
Dec. 17, 1979 -- Black insurance agent Arthur McDuffie is beaten to death by a group of police officers after leading a high-speed chase on a motorcycle.
May 17, 1980 -- Four Dade County officers are acquitted of the McDuffie beating death in a trial moved to Tampa because of pretrial publicity. Black leaders organize a protest march but it backfires and violence explodes in the Liberty City ghetto and spreads to other black neighborhoods.
May 17-19, 1980 -- Bloody rioting continues for three days, leaving 18 people dead and $200 million in damages.
July 15, 1980 -- Racial violence breaks out again in Liberty City. It lasts three days but no one is killed. Police say 69 people were arrested and 35 injured, including six officers.
Dec. 28, 1982 -- Nevell Johnson, a 20-year-old black, is shot and killed in a video game room in the Overtown ghetto, touching off three days of violence, leaving one other man dead and 26 injured.
March 13, 1983 -- Two nights of rock and bottle throwing begins when police try to stop unauthorized outdoor disco in Liberty City. There are no injuries.
May 7, 1983 -- A photographer and a police patrolman are injured in rock and bottle throwing caused once again when police tried to quiet down an outdoor disco.
May 26, 1983 -- Detective Thomas Pellechio is cleared in the shooting death of Ernest Kirkland, a black 58-year-old jail guard.
June 14, 1983 -- Hispanic officer Ernesto Urtiaga acquitted of manslaughter in the death of suspected meat hijacker Anthony Nelson, a black.
Sept. 16, 1983 -- White officer Robert Koenig convicted of manslaughter for fatally shooting Donald Harp, 22, a black, March 4, 1983, in the aftermath of a hit-and-run accident.
Jan. 18, 1984 -- Jury selection begins in the trial of former Miami police officer Luis Alvarez, charged with manslaughter in the slaying of Johnson.
Jan. 30, 1984 -- Testimony begins in Alvarez trial.
March 15, 1984 -- Jury deliberates for two hours and finds Alvarez innocent of manslaughter. Blacks take to streets in scattered pockets of the Miami area and police report more than 200 arrests for rock and bottle throwing and looting. A handful of minor injuries are reported.
