Panel Meets in Probe of Killing That Led to Riot

A panel formed to investigate the slaying that touched off this week’s racial violence met for the first time Friday as civic and community leaders sought to maintain calm for Super Bowl weekend.

“We can’t go on having racial disturbances every five years--if this goes on, the whole city is going to burn down,” said the Rev. Richard Barry, chairman of the 11-member panel of police officers and black residents.

The board will investigate the death of Clement Lloyd, 23, an unarmed black motorcyclist who was shot in the head Monday by a police officer.

In rioting triggered by the shooting, one man was killed and seven others were shot in two black neighborhoods. Thirteen buildings were torched and others looted, authorities said.

“I’m hoping we’ll begin to deal seriously with this community’s problems and do more than just put some iodine on its cancers,” Barry said. After an introductory session, the group agreed to hold its first working meeting on Monday.

William Lozano, 29, the officer who shot Lloyd, remained on suspension with pay during an internal police investigation. His attorney, Roy Black, said he expects the Colombian-born officer to be indicted in the slaying.

“He’s being made a scapegoat to somehow save the Super Bowl, save civic pride, to stop the riots,” Black charged. He said the officer fired in self-defense as the motorcycle bore down on him.

Normal activity resumed Friday in the black neighborhoods plagued by violence earlier in the week, with police relaxing the perimeter around the Overtown neighborhood and opening up highway exits into the area.

Most of the 372 people arrested in the riots remained in jail, unable to make cash bail of $250 or more. A state survey found that 106 of 185 suspects whose backgrounds were checked had criminal records averaging 11 arrests each.

As the crisis ebbed in the inner-city neighborhoods, security concerns turned to Sunday’s Super Bowl. At least 300 Metro-Dade police officers in uniform and plainclothes will guard Joe Robbie Stadium, police spokesman Jim Hutton said.

Only people with tickets will be allowed past the parking gates. No one has applied for a march or demonstration permit, police said, and, if protesters do show up and obstruct the entrance, they will be moved out quickly, Hutton said.