Los Angeles Riots
The Los Angeles Riots broke out in Los Angeles, California, on the 29th of April, 1992. The riots started as a response to the acquittal of four white policemen connected with the beating of African-American Rodney King in 1991.
Background
On the 3rd of March 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving through Los Angeles when the police pulled them over for speeding. King tried to escape, setting off a high-speed chase through the city. The police followed the car over motorways and through residential neighbourhoods until King came to a stop. After the two passengers were placed in the police car, four white Los Angeles police officers severely beat Rodney King, kicking him in the head, beating him with batons and using taser guns on him.
Keywords
- riot (n.)
- baton (n.)
- harass (v.)
- acquit (v.)
- arson (n.)
- looting (n.)
Caught on Tape
From the balcony of his apartment, amateur cameraman George Holiday videotaped the assault and sent the tape to a local news station. The video showed King crawling on the ground during the beating, and that the police made no attempt to handcuff him. When the clip aired on TV, there was an outcry in protest to the assault.
The Riots
When the five officers were acquitted in court of almost all charges more than a year later, protests and violence erupted in Los Angeles. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the police headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, shouting 'No justice, no peace'. At an intersection elsewhere in the city, a crowd began harassing motorists. Live television coverage showed the assault of a white truck driver, Reginald Denny, who was pulled out of his truck and beaten.
Six Long Days
The police on the scene had withdrawn, not knowing how to handle the riots. In the following six days, the riots continued with violence, murder, looting, and arson, and did not end until soldiers from the California Army National Guard, along with US Marines, were called in to stop the violence.
Did you know
that Rodney King received a $3.8 million settlement from Los Angeles after two of the officers who had beaten him were convicted of violating his civil rights?
Aftermath
More than 50 people were killed during the riots, more than 2300 were injured and thousands were arrested. About 1100 buildings were damaged, and the total property damage was about $1 billion, which made the disruptions one of the most devastating civil riots in American history.