Los Angeles Riots 1992
Citation: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/riots-erupt-in-los-angeles
Los Angeles Riots, 1992, History. Com
In Los Angeles, California a riot broke out after four Los Angeles police officers had been caught beating Rodney King brutally. Rodney King was unarmed and all of the officers were acquitted. Hours after the verdict people were furious and they started to protest, and burn down buildings. The violence quickly began. On March 3rd, 1991, paroled felon Rodney King led the police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles County before eventually surrendering. King was intoxicated and he resisted arrest, however, he did not deserve to get brutally beaten by four police officers. The officers’ names are Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon. King was released without charges and Sergeant Koon and the other officers were indicted by a Los Angeles grand jury in connection with the beating. All of the officers were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force. Powell and Koon also charged with filing false reports. On April 29th, 1992, all of the officers were acquitted and the LA Riots broke out. Violence erupted at the intersection of Florence Boulevard and Normandie Avenue in South-Central Los Angeles. Three African-American men beat a white truck driver named Reginald Denny very badly. The violence continued for 24 hours until President George HW Bush ordered military troops and riot-trained federal officers to LA. The LA Riots killed more than 60 people, injured almost 2,000 people and led to 7,000 arrests, and caused nearly $1 billion in property damages, including the burnings of more than 3,000 buildings. In federal court on April 17th, 1993, Koon and Powell were convicted of violating Rodney King’s constitutional rights and they were sentenced to two and half years in prison.
Citation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0ZyGclmCHY
Rodney King Beating LA Riots TV Special with Mike Wallace, Published on Dec 31, 2016
Rodney King is a 25-year-old high school dropout with a criminal record. He was shot by a Taser gun, one police officer stomped on his head and kicked him repeatedly, and both his wrist and ankles were bound to the ground. The tape recording of King’s beating was broadcasted to the world and people flipped out. Eyewitnesses saw him getting beat repeatedly and they were in awe. The police thought that King was high on drugs and resisting arrest. Rodney King stated, “They beat on me, all over my body, they beat on my ankles, it hurts, it hurts real bad because it was hit with a stick, and the same with my face, my jaw, I was scared, I was scared for my life.” Stacey Koon, Ted Briseno, Larry Powell and Tim Wind face felony charges. Eleven days later they faced a white-middle class jury. Koon was the sergeant and he was facing more charges than the others because he was supposed to keep his officers in line that night. He is accused of assault and intentional great bodily harm, then he tried to cover up his tracks by writing a false police report. Powell was a veteran and Win a rookie also faced assault charges. Briseno is shown on the tape shouting at King and then stomping on his head. Win and Powell were writing these offensive statements about African-Americans on their dispatcher it was shown in the trial. Win and Powell wrote “It was night filled with gorillas in the mist, they wrote that on their dispatcher just hours before the Rodney King’s beating. Win and Powell also wrote another offensive statement about Blacks last week on their dispatcher and it reads “I haven’t beaten anyone this bad in a long time.” The officers were laughing after they beaten Rodney King it was picked up the supervising sergeant command center. However, in the courtroom Briseno testified against his officers, but the prosecutor White could not break Koon’s story. Koon told the prosecutor that’s how the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) trained him, and he was taught to beat someone repeatedly until they comply. The officers’ attorneys stated that if the verdict reads guilty most of Los Angeles would lose faith in their police officers and that being a police officer is tough and sometimes requires physical force. However, Prosecutor White fought back “It was an embarrassment, it is embarrassing to every man and woman across this country who puts on a uniform every day and follow the law.” After the verdict read not guilty the LA riots broke out. Protestors said things like “We declare a war, one injustice after another!” Crowds of people were chanting “No Justice, No Peace!” A black woman while shopping with her kids told the reporter “It was on fil, its bull shit, it’s not going to stop.” Between Florence Blvd and Normandie Blvd in South Central was when the riot first broke out. Anyone who was not black was prone to violence, Reginald Denney received a vicious beating from three black men, he was rescued by other Blacks. Darryl Gates was the police chief and he was not in the city when the riots broke out. He turned a blind eye. People of all backgrounds were protesting. Then the looting began, they threw bottles into the police headquarters windows, and they committed arson. Mayor Bradley asked the Governor of California Pete Wilson to send over 2,000 National Guards to try to calm things down. Other cities started to riot like Seattle, San Francisco, Tampa, Birmingham, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Police were outnumbered in Los Angeles because so many people were looting the stores and many police officers were not doing anything. Store owners had rifles and ammunition. Bus service was halted; the selling of ammunition and gas was also banned. Public schools were closed and looters were throwing gas bombs into the store. The Riots involved mostly Hispanics because they made up 44% of the population. Rodney King begged for the rioting to stop, he did not like it. Finally, President George HW Bush ordered 5,000 federal troops into the Los Angeles to help control the violence. The four officers were bought up on civil rights charges in federal court. George HW Bush said, “What I saw was revolting, anger, and pain. How could I explain this to my grandchildren?” He was talking about the LA riots and what he witnessed on the news. The massive military and police presence had finally brought LA under control on May 3rd, 1992.
