Los Angeles riots of 1992 Totally Explained

Everything about Los Angeles Riots Of 1992 totally explained

The Los Angeles riots of 1992, also known as the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, were sparked on April 29, 1992 when a jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict. Widespread looting, assault, arson, and murder occurred, damage was estimated in the millions. Many of the crimes were gang-motivated or perpetrated. In all, 53 people died during the riots.

Underlying causes

In addition to the immediate trigger of the verdict, many other factors were cited as reasons for the unrest, including extremely high unemployment among residents of South Central Los Angeles, which had been hit very hard by the nation-wide recession; a long-standing perception that the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) engaged in racial profiling and used excessive force, subsequently supported by the Christopher Commission, an investigation led by Warren Christopher (who two years later would become Secretary of State under president Bill Clinton); and specific anger over the sentence given to a Korean American shop-owner for the killing of Latasha Harlins, an African American girl. Additionally, in the time between the public revelation of King's arrest and the trial verdict, the two L.A. street gangs, the Bloods and the Crips, agreed to a truce with each other, and began working together to make political demands of the police and the L.A. political establishment. On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was heavily beaten with clubs, tackled, and tasered by four L.A.P.D. officers. The incident, minus the first few minutes when police claim King was violently resisting arrest, was captured on video by a private citizen, George Holliday, from his apartment in the vicinity. The footage of King being beaten by police officers while lying on the ground became an international media sensation and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States.
The police officers claimed that King appeared to be under the influence of PCP. King had also led police on a high-speed pursuit. After driving through several red lights and boulevard stops, he pulled over in the Lake View Terrace district. In a later interview, King, who was on parole from prison on a robbery conviction, and had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery said that, being on parole, he feared apprehension and being returned to prison for parole violations.
The Los Angeles district attorney subsequently charged the police officers with the use of excessive force in the arrest. Due to the media coverage of the arrest, the trial received a change of venue from Los Angeles County to a newly constructed courthouse in the predominantly white city of Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County. No Simi Valley residents served on the jury, which was drawn from the nearby San Fernando Valley, a predominantly white and Hispanic area. The prosecutor who failed to obtain convictions for three of the officers in this case, Terry White, was black. On April 29, 1992, three of the officers were acquitted by a jury of ten Caucasians, one Latino, and an Asian. The jury could not agree on a verdict for one of the counts on one of the officers. The acquittal was based in part on a 13-second segment of the video tape that was edited out by television news stations in their broadcast. It wasn't previously seen by the public. Those first 13 seconds of videotape are very blurry. It shows Rodney King getting up off the ground and charging in the general direction of one of the police officers, Ofc. Laurence Powell. Prior to that, the testimony of the officers indicated that they tried to physically restrain King but, according to the officers, King was able to physically throw them off himself. That alleged incident wasn't caught on tape. Based on this testimony and the previously unseen segment of the videotape, the officers were acquitted on almost all charges. The general public was largely unaware of the testimony and the unedited videotape footage.

The Riot

The riots, beginning in the evening after the verdict, peaked in intensity over the next two days, but would ultimately continue for several days. Continuous television coverage, especially by helicopter news crews, riveted the country and shocked viewers around the world. People watched as parts of the city went up in flames, stores were openly looted, innocent bystanders were beaten, and rioters shot at police. A curfew and deployment of California National Guard troops began to control the situation; eventually federal troops from the 7th Infantry Division in Fort Ord and United States Marines from the 1st Marine Division in Camp Pendleton would be sent to the city to quell disorder.
53 lives were lost, with as many as 2,000 people injured. Estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points. About 10,000 people were arrested. Stores owned by Korean and other Asian immigrants were widely targeted, although stores owned by whites and blacks were also targeted. Criminals used the chaos to their own benefit, and street gangs settled scores with each other and fought the police.

First day (Wednesday, April 29)

The acquittals of the LAPD officers came at 3:15 p.m. local time. By 3:45, a generally peaceful crowd of more than 300 persons had appeared at the Los Angeles County Courthouse, most protesting the verdict passed down a few minutes before. Between 5 and 6 p.m., a group of two dozen officers, commanded by LAPD Lt. Micheal Moulin, confronted a growing crowd at the intersection of Florence and Normandy in South Central Los Angeles. Outnumbered, these officers retreated. A new group of protesters appeared at Parker Center, the LAPD's headquarters, by about 6:30 p.m., and 15 minutes later, the black crowd at Florence and Normandy had started looting, attacking vehicles and people, mainly European-Americans and Latino-Americans of white appearance.

Reginald Denny beating

At approximately 6:45 p.m., Reginald Denny, a white truck driver stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of Florence and South Normandy Avenues, was dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by a mob of local residents as news helicopters hovered above, recording every blow, including a concrete fragment connecting with Denny's temple and a cinder block thrown at his head as he lay unconscious in the street. The police never appeared, having been ordered to withdraw for their own safety, although several assailants were later arrested and one sent to prison. Instead, Denny was rescued, not by police officers, but by unarmed civilian black neighbors who, seeing the assault live on television, rushed to the scene. Denny would recover after brain surgery. Although several Asian and Latino motorists were brutally beaten by the same mob, due to the live coverage Denny remains the best-known victim of the riots.

Fidel Lopez beating

At the same intersection, just minutes after Denny was rescued, another beating was captured on video tape. Fidel Lopez, a self-employed construction worker and Guatemalan immigrant, was ripped from his truck and robbed of nearly $2,000. Damian Williams smashed his forehead open with a car stereo as another rioter attempted to slice his ear off. After Lopez lost consciousness, the crowd spray painted his chest, torso and genitals black. Lopez survived the attack, after extensive surgery to reattach his partially severed ear and months of recovery. An unknown black minister prevented others from beating Fidel and was instrumental in helping Fidel get medical aid when he took him to the hospital.

The riots continue

Arsonists struck in that neighborhood and others, taking out their anger on several unguarded businesses, police and other races. By 7:30 the intersection of Florence and Normandie was completely looted, burned and destroyed, causing the rioters to move into other neighborhoods of South Central. The LAFD's first fire call relating to the riots came at about 7:45 p.m. Looters threw bricks to smash windows and Molotov cocktails to start fires. Cars were torched to block intersections; others were carjacked and their drivers beaten. Rescue personnel were shot at. By dark, stores were being openly looted and fires burned unabated as fire officials refused to send firemen into personal danger. The LAPD ordered all officers to report for duty, and many deployed in riot gear but they were unseen in broad sections of the city. Between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. rioting focused in South Central Los Angeles began to spread. Between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. rioting began in Inglewood and other communities.
By 9:00 p.m., the protest at Parker Center had turned violent as rioters threw rocks and damaged some downtown buildings and windows. Also by this time, the situation in affected areas had deteriorated enough that bus service was suspended on some lines, and the flight paths of incoming jets to Los Angeles International Airport were modified because of shots fired at a police helicopter.
Police Chief Daryl Gates drew sharp rebuke for attending a political fundraiser that evening. Long-established LAPD tactics and procedures held that the opening hours of a riot were critical, and that a full-force response was required. The LAPD didn't respond quickly and decisively in the opening hours, however, and suffered persistent criticism as a result during and following the riots. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley called for a state of emergency at 8:45 p.m., prompting Governor Pete Wilson to activate 2,000 members of the National Guard.

Second day (Thursday, April 30)

By the second day violence appeared widespread and unchecked as heavy looting and fires had started being witnessed across Los Angeles County. The Korean American community, which perceived the first day's events as an abandonment of Koreatown, swiftly organized a self-defense squad composed of veteran Marines and workers, who entered the fray. Open gun battles were televised as Korean shopkeepers and the self-defense group took to using firearms to protect their businesses from crowds of looters. (One of the volunteers, 18-year-old Edward Lee, was killed in the crossfire that evening.) Organized law-enforcement response began to come together by mid-day. Fire crews began to respond backed by police escort; California Highway Patrol reinforcements were airlifted to the city; and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley declared a state of emergency and announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew. President George H. W. Bush spoke out against the rioting, stating that "anarchy" wouldn't be tolerated. The California National Guard, which had been advised not to expect civil disturbance, responded quickly by calling up some 2,000 soldiers, but couldn't get them to the city until nearly 24 hours had passed due to a lack of proper equipment, training, and available ammunition which had to be picked up from Camp Roberts, California (near Paso Robles). Initially, they'd only secure areas previously cleared of rioters by police. Later, they'd actively run patrols, maintain check points, and provide firepower for law enforcement.
The Los Angeles Times reported that several of the King jurors had fled their homes and that Rodney King had been placed under psychiatric care.

Third day (Friday, May 1)

The third day was punctuated by live footage of a shaken Rodney King asking, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" That morning, at 1:00 a.m., California Governor Pete Wilson had requested federal assistance, but it wouldn't be ready until Saturday. State guard units (doubled to 4,000 troops) continued to move into the city in Humvees. Additionally, a varied contingent of 1,700 federal law-enforcement officers from different agencies began to arrive, to protect federal facilities and assist local police. As darkness fell, the main riot area was further hit by a power outage.
Friday evening, President George H.W. Bush spoke to the nation, denouncing "random terror and lawlessness", summarizing his discussions with Mayor Bradley and Governor Wilson, and outlining the federal assistance he was making available to local authorities. Citing the "urgent need to restore order", he warned that the "brutality of a mob" wouldn't be tolerated, and he'd "use whatever force is necessary". He then turned to the Rodney King case and a more moderate tone, describing talking to his own grandchildren and pointing to the reaction of "good and decent policemen" as well as civil rights leaders. He said he'd already directed the Justice Department to begin its own investigation, saying that "grand jury action is underway today" and that justice would prevail.
By this point, many entertainment and sports events were postponed or canceled. The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers in a basketball playoff game on the night the rioting started, but the following game was postponed until Sunday and moved to Las Vegas. The Los Angeles Clippers moved a playoff game against the Utah Jazz to nearby Anaheim. In baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers postponed games for four straight days from Thursday to Sunday; all were made up as part of doubleheaders in July. The Hollywood Park Racetrack and Los Alamitos horse racing tracks were also shut down. L.A. Fiesta Broadway, a major event in the Latino community, wasn't held in the first weekend in May as scheduled. Residents of the neighborhood had to leave their homes after soaking their roofs with water to prevent ashes from settling and igniting a fire.

Fourth day (Saturday, May 2)

On the fourth day, 4,000 Soldiers and Marines arrived from Fort Ord and Camp Pendleton to suppress the crowds and restore order. Calm began to appear as the Army and Marines arrived with M1 Abrams tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers. With most of the violence under control, 30,000 people attended a peace rally. By the end of the day a sense of normality began to return.
Whether in response to the riots, or simply to the acquital, on May 2 the Justice Department announced it would begin a federal investigation of the Rodney King beating.

Fifth day (Sunday, May 3)

Overall quiet set in and Mayor Bradley assured the public that the crisis was pretty much under control. However, in an isolated incident, a motorist was shot while attempting to run down National Guardsmen.

Sixth day (Monday, May 4)

Although Mayor Bradley lifted the curfew, signaling the official end of the riots, sporadic violence and crime continued for a few days afterward. Schools, banks, and businesses reopened. Federal troops wouldn't stand down until May 9; the state guard remained until May 14; and some soldiers remained as late as May 27.
The most accurate documented count of the dead may be the April 24, 2002 LA Weekly article, "The L.A. 53", by Jim Crogan. Using coroner's reports, police records and interviews, he documented 53 people and how they died.

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