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Officer William Lozano acquitted of murdering Black motorcyclist Clement Lloyd by a racially-mixed jury.
1993 (May 28)
In Orlando, Florida, a racially-mixed jury acquitted a Miami police officer of manslaughter in the 1989 shooting death of a Black motorcyclist. On January 16, 1989, in the predominantly Black Overtown section of Miami, Officer William Lozano shot and killed Black motorcyclist Clement Lloyd. Lloyd then crashed, fatally injuring his passenger, Allan Blanchard. Lozano claimed the speeding motorcycle had tried to run him over and that he had fired his gun in self defense. The incident touched off three nights of racial violence in Overtown. In December 1989, Lozano was convicted of manslaughter in both deaths and sentenced to seven years in prison. In 1991, however, an appeals court ordered a new trial for the policeman on the grounds that the Miami jury had been pressured into finding him guilty because of the threat of more racial violence. Lozano's 1993 trial was held in Orlando, where authorities hoped it would be easier to find an impartial jury. They also hoped to avoid triggering another riot if he were acquitted. In the hours after the verdict was announced, Miami remained relatively calm. Police reported only scattered instances of looting and rock- and bottle-throwing in two mostly Black neighborhoods. However, outraged community leaders called on the U.S. Justice Department to file civil rights charges against Lozano, but experts considered that unlikely to happen.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.