Word: overtown
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...plot sounded familiar. On December 28, two Miami policemen went to a video arcade in the predominantly Black Overtown neighborhood to conduct a "self-initiated check," Nevell Johnson was playing pinball, and officer Luis Alvarez saw a "suspicious bulge" under Johnson's shirt. According to the official spokesman, "the individual made a quick movement, and the officer's gun discharged." Johnson had been hit in the face at close range, and the 20-year-old died within hours...
Some witnesses in the arcade said Johnson was unarmed. Others said that even if he did have a gun, there was no cause to shoot him in cold blood. As word of the killing spread through Overtown, rock-throwing became car-burning became looting and vandalism...
...years later, the authorities were prepared for Overtown. Within a day, National Guardsmen joined Miami police in sealing off a 200-block section of the city. Four helicopters flew over the neighborhood, dropping tear gas canisters. At one point, about 300 guardsmen and police were scouring the area, armed with gas, shotguns, revolvers and attack dogs...
Almost as soon as Alvarez fired on Tuesday night, word of the shooting raced through the dark streets of Overtown...
...square-mile heart of Overtown was sealed off, reopened, then closed again. Police helicopters hovered over head. On Wednesday, with the neighbor hood edging toward a full-fledged riot, 250 police, most armed with shotguns, swarmed in once again. Many acted in discriminately: one shopkeeper was clubbed and another was mauled by police dogs. The mobs they faced were amorphous, but sometimes 500 strong...