Injustice Riots

Though sparked by the Rodney King verdict, there were many other causes of the riots that erupted on the streets of Los Angeles on April 29, 1992. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 were devastating. The obvious issue portrayed through the media was black versus white. If you did not live in Los Angeles or California chances are you did not hear full coverage of the story, you heard a simple cut and dry portrayal of the events in South Central. If you heard one thing about the riots, it was that there was a man named Rodney King and he was a black male beaten with excessive force by four white Los Angeles police officers on Los Angeles concrete. The media portrayed the riots as black rage on the streets due to the

When the judge, Bernard Kamins, who was Caucasian declared three of the four (also white) officers not guilty the public saw his decision very racist. The riots began in the evening after the judgment, and grew over the next two days, but they would continue for several days. Angry Los Angels residents went out to the streets to show their fury. “These people are angry and they have every right to be!” said a man to the news cameras during the destruction. Authorities failed miserably to control the people. As time went by the madness did not decrease but enlarged.

On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the "not guilty" verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, "estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were burned, and about 10,000 people were arrested."(Khalifah 89) The 1992 riots in the City of Los Angeles were arguably the most devastating civil disturbance in the history of the United States.

On March 3, 1991 Rodney King led the Los Angeles police on a high speed chase. Once the chase was over officers pulled King out of his vehicle and began to brutally beat,taze and stomp on him. The recording of the video taken by a witness standing on the other side of the street was locally broadcasted then nationally broadcasted.The reasons that police officers acted the way they did was because “Rodney King was driving while intoxicated and when officers attempted to arrest him, the large belligerent man resisted that arrest.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou ) It was already said that King had a criminal record of second degree robbery and out on parole so the officers were aware of who he was by now. I also believe that racial profiling was another factor that caused the police officers to act they way that they did. As stated by Connie Rice a lawyer and civil rights activist , “The LAPD at the time was almost an occupying force, partially biased against people of color.” (Sastry & Bates) Personally, I do not believe that the officers acted in an appropriate matter because instead of pulling him from his car and brutally beating him they should've just gone up to him and arrested him. I understand that he was seen as a threat during this time because of the high speed chase but there were other ways that they could have handled the situation. The use of forces that could have been appropriate for this situation were verbal commands, maybe a bit of empty hand control with the soft empty hand technique and if he resisted then that is when the use of less lethal force would of been used. Also they found out that in the first three seconds of the film were cut of and showed that “Rodney King rising up from the street to charge one officer in a clear-cut violent assault. In self defense, that officer struck King with his PR-24.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou.) Now with this new information I believe that the officer had a right to defend himself however not to the extent that they all went. Hitting King ith the PR-24 would have caused him to fall and during that time they could have arrested him instead. According to Biography.com, “The United States Department of Justice filed federal civil rights charges

The 1960s was a time for change. It promoted on going expectations of equality for all races. This proved to be difficult for minorities. In August of 1965, civil unrest broke out, which lead to six-day revolt called the Watts Riot. Nearly thirty years later another riot broke out which caused even greater damage and left an even greater impact in our history, the Rodney King Riots. Both of these events share similar qualities and devastating damages, however, their meanings are much harder to decipher from one another. These impactful events in our society demonstrate how much there needs to change in our society, especially when dealing with minorities.

The neighborhood I have chosen is Watts, California. Before it was known as Watts it was a part of Rancho La Tajuata specializing in livestock grazing and beef production. In the 1870's there was a population boom of White Americans in Southern California. La Tajuata was divided and sold into smaller farms and homes. By the 1900's the development of the railroads brought good things. The town became a city and built it's first station known as Watts Station. In 1926 the city annexed itself to Los Angeles. The railroads brought Mexican and Mexican American workers known as "traqueros" into the community.

It should be known, beforehand, that the Kerner Commission's Report doesn’t direct the blame towards white people specifically; instead, the riots were usually caused by symbols that represent white people, including media portrayal on its content and the police. According to that report, it says, “to some Negroes, the police have come to symbolize white power, white racism and white repression” (Kerner). Ironic as it seems, even law enforcement was identified as racially intimidating figures themselves. If there was clear, concrete evidence on why the riots happened, then it should be a simple problem to solve, and the issue shouldn’t linger for the future. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case; according to the report, they claimed that “[the

On 11/28/2017, I, Officer Marisa Rhodeman #165 was working as a Police Officer in FTO Training along with WSU Officer Dillon Dickerson #155, for the Wichita State University Police Department (WSUPD), Wichita, Sedgwick County Kansas.

The Los Angeles Riots were the second riots to happen after the Watts Riots. The L.A Riots took place on April 9, 1992. The riots broke out in less than a day and lasted five days and killed more than 50 people and left more than 2,000 injured. On April 30, 1992, writers Richard A. Serrano and Tracy Wilkinson wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times newspaper saying "hours after the verdicts were announced, angry demonstrators torched buildings, looted stores and assaulted passersby as civic leaders pleaded for calm." The riots started after the verdict was given, people were filled with anger after they police officers were acquitted of all charges against them. Tensions also arose with Korean store owners.

Many people of today's society believe that riots and protests initiated by black people in America came about in the early 90's around the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots stemmed from the acquittal of four white Los Angeles Police Department in the beating of black motorist Rodney King in 1991 (cnn.com). Although that story brought major attention to police brutality in America there were many other significant riots that have taken place in American history. In August of 1965 the essential although easily overlooked Watts Riot took place in Watt, Los Angeles California. After a white police officer pulled over a black man and had him arrested and his car impounded because he assumed he was under the influence, a crowd of angry and confused

shortages. Women became charged with taking care of the farms. The Confiscation Acts hurt southern agriculture production as well. The first Confiscation Act passed August 6, 1861 “stated that all slaves who fought with or worked for the Confederate military services were freed of further obligations to their masters”. Later the second Confiscation Act passed July 17, 1862 stated “slaves of civilian and military Confederate officials ‘shall be forever free,’ but it was enforceable only in areas of the South occupied by the Union Army”. Southern agriculture also suffered from the effects of the Emancipation Proclamation. Slaves became less efficient with the promise of freedom. The Union blockade also hurt southern agriculture. The Union

The Los Angeles Riots were the second riots to happen after the Watts Riots. The L.A Riots took place on April 9, 1992. The riots broke out in less than a day and lasted five days and killed more than 50 people and left more than 2,000 injured. On April 30, 1992, writers Richard A. Serrano and Tracy Wilkinson wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times newspaper saying "hours after the verdicts were announced, angry demonstrators torched buildings, looted stores and assaulted passersby as civic leaders pleaded for calm." The riots started after the verdict was given, people were filled with anger after they police officers were acquitted of all charges against them. Tensions also arose with Korean store owners.

Protests riots in the United States has proven to an issue for both the country’s financial strength and the unity of the nation. With the presence of social injustices, combined with the increased impact of social media propaganda, protests riots are beginning to reach an all time high. Protest riots destroy individual communities and businesses, jeopardizes the safety of others and taints the protest’s cause by resorting to civil disobedience. Action must be done in order to prevent these random acts of violence from continuing after every social hot topic. The goal is not to prevent citizens from protesting; in fact, this should be encouraged. The goal is to change the way the protests are handled from both the citizens and authority perspectives, in order to prevent these protests from escalating into something dangerous.

The beginnings of the riots came on March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was stopped and brutally assaulted by police. King was stopped after a high speed chase police after police caught him intoxicated and was subsequently forced out of the car (History.com). From there, police began to unlawfully assault Rodney King, leaving him with a fractured skull, along with a broken cheekbone (History.com). A witness, George Holliday, filmed the officers beating Rodney King; a day after the tape was airing on CNN for the rest of the country to witness (Los Angeles Daily News). Four officers were later arrested and put to trial a year later, however all of them were not pleaded guilty. The verdict angered a massive amount of African

The Detroit riots occurred in the summer of 1967. The riot initially started because of race when poor African Americans got kicked out of their houses. They started living on 12th street in Detroit. The riot started there because African Americans were fed up with the way that they were being treated. Many years prior to the riot there were already racial issues. The government made it hard for African Americans to buy houses in the 1950s. During that time, white people were resisting African Americans from moving into Detroit. They were gathering outside of houses owned by African Americans until they would leave. According to Stanford, “I was blissfully unaware of the pervasive racism and resentment that was simmering in my city” (28).