Plaque Honoring Arthur McDuffie, Victim of 1979 Police Killing, Damaged in Apparent Accident

Earlier this year, Miami-Dade County unveiled a historical marker dedicated to Arthur McDuffie, who died after white Miami-Dade police officers beat him into a coma during a traffic stop on the corner of N. Miami Avenue and NE 38th Street in the early morning hours of December 17, 1979. McDuffie died from his injuries four days later.

Less than a year after the marker was unveiled, it has been dislodged from its mounting pole in what Miami-Dade County believe to be a vehicle collision.

"The marker sits just feet from the roadway and was likely hit by a truck's mirror," Juan Mendieta, a Department of Transportation and Public Works spokesperson, informed New Times in a statement.

Officers savagely beat the 33-year-old Black insurance agent after he ran a red light on his motorcycle. Then they attempted to cover up the incident, claiming McDuffie was injured during a high-speed chase. Fallout from his murder culminated in the deadly Miami riots in the Black neighborhoods of Overtown and Liberty City after an all-white jury in Tampa acquitted the four Miami-Dade officers involved.

On February 24, 2024, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Commissioners Keon Hardemon and René García, and City of Miami Commissioner Christine King unveiled the Arthur Lee McDuffie State Historical Marker on the corner where the beating occurred. Also in attendance were civil rights activists including historian Marvin Dunn, and McDuffie's children, who were toddlers when their father was killed.

"With the unveiling of the Arthur Lee McDuffie State Historical Marker, we are given an opportunity to recognize Mr. McDuffie and the life he led here in Miami — to remind us that he was more than just a flashpoint in Miami’s history," Miami-Dade Historic Preservation Chief Sarah Cody said in a press release from the county at the time.

The plaque describes McDuffie's life, murder, and the events that followed the officers' acquittal.
On the morning of Monday, December 2, a New Times contributor noticed that the plaque memorializing McDuffie was absent from the post where it had been mounted.

"Efforts are underway to repair and reinstall this important sign as soon as possible," Mendieta wrote in his statement. "We thank the Miami New Times for its vigilance."

Update 9:05 p.m.: This story has been updated with a response to our request for comment from Miami-Dade County. The original version stated that the damage to the plaque may have been due to vandalism.