Police officers patrol stadium, neighborhoods

MIAMI (AP)—Police set up checkpoints at Joe Robbie Stadium and patrolled black neighborhoods on Super Bowl Sunday, which dawned quiet and rainy after days of rioting.

Some 300 police officers assigned to the championship game between the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers had orders to allow only ticket-holders close to the stadium north of the city.

In Overtown, where the violence began last Monday night after a Hispanic policeman fatally shot an unarmed black motorcyclist, squads of riot police called “field forces” remained on alert, said Officer M. Tejeda.

Early in the day, everything was “very quiet” in Overtown, Tejeda said.

Game day brought rain after months of dry conditions. Showers cleared by late morning, hours before 75,000 spectators arrived for the game.

Miami had agonized about the tarnish to the city’s image from the looting, shooting and burnings in Overtown and Liberty City, both impoverished black neighborhoods, during what was supposed to be a week to showcase the city to the world.

Three days of violence gave way to three days of tense yet relatively trouble-free nights, which in turn gave way to football.

“Put parties, anxiety behind: It’s game day,” implored a banner headline in The Miami Herald on Sunday.

ioting by youths left one man dead, and 11 others were treated for gunshot wounds. Thirteen buildings were torched and others looted, and 372 people were arrested, authorities said.

About 150 of those arrested were unable to post $250 bail and will not be arraigned again until Monday, police said. If they plead guilty, they probably will be released for time served, said Sgt. Mike Mazur.

Clement Lloyd, 23, the motorcyclist who was killed by a shot to the head by Officer William Lozano, was to be buried Monday afternoon. His passenger, Allen Blanchard, 24, who suffered fatal injuries when the motorcycle crashed, was laid to rest Saturday.

A panel of police officers and Overtown residents set up by the city to investigate the shooting holds its first working meeting on Monday. In addition, various local, state and federal agencies are looking into the case.

On Sunday morning, New York civil rights attorney C. Vernon Mason and two members of the local black community announced the formation of People United For Justice In Miami.

Mason said the group is in response to “a national epidemic” of police violence against blacks. Local leaders called for creation of citizen patrols and for the arrest of Lozano, who has been suspended with pay.