Michael Griffith

People

Michael Griffith

Outcome

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On December 20, 1986, Michael Griffith, a 23-year-old Black man from Trinidad, was killed in Howard Beach, Queens, when he was struck by a car while fleeing a mob of white teenagers armed with baseball bats and tire irons. Griffith and two friends had walked to the predominantly white neighborhood after their car broke down, seeking help. When they entered a local pizzeria, they were confronted by hostile white patrons. Upon leaving around 12:40 AM, they were attacked by a mob of twelve white youths led by 17-year-old Jon Lester. While one of Griffith's companions, Timothy Grimes, escaped by brandishing a knife, Griffith and Cedric Sandiford were chased and severely beaten. Fleeing for his life, Griffith ran onto the Belt Parkway, where he was struck and killed by a passing motorist. New York Mayor Edward Koch compared the attack to a lynching. The incident sparked massive protests led by Reverend Al Sharpton, who organized a march of approximately 1,200 demonstrators through Howard Beach one week later. When Queens District Attorney John Santucci initially charged the suspects with only reckless endangerment, he was removed from the case and replaced by special prosecutor Charles Hynes. The subsequent prosecution resulted in convictions: Jon Lester received 10-30 years, Scott Kern received 6-18 years, and Jason Ladone received 5-15 years. The driver who struck Griffith, Dominick Blum, was not charged. Cedric Sandiford, who survived the beating, died of AIDS-related complications in 1991. The Howard Beach attack became a defining moment in New York's racial history and elevated Al Sharpton to national prominence as a civil rights activist.