Los Angeles Riots Essay

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

Throughout police history in the United States and around the world there have been numerous incidents of reported police brutality and other forms of corruption including taking bribes, theft, sexual deviance, and many more. In our present time corruption has decreased significantly from what it once was decades ago but still exists. One of the most publicized cases of police brutality, if not the most, was the beating of Rodney King. Most people have heard about the case and seen the video of the brutal beating that took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 2, 1991. The video shown to the public contained officers appearing to beat Mr. King while he is on the ground while

African Americans in Los Angeles and throughout the United States have experienced racial oppression for centuries. (Background about racial oppression by the LAPD). Rodney King was an African American motorist who inspired positive police reforms after he had a brutal conflict and was beaten by four members of the LAPD. Rodney King’s encounter resulted in a social and legal compromise because the incident made people aware of police brutality, gave African Americans a voice against police abuse, and resulted in reforms to the way that the LAPD responds to communities of color.

“April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you!? You were sittin' home watchin' your TV, while I was paticipatin' in some anarchy,” these are the lyrics Sublime uses in their song ‘April 26, 1992’ to describe what happened during the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. “First spot we hit it was my liquor store. I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford. With red lights flashin' time to retire, And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire,” people ,running through the streets, had no pity when demolishing small businesses and taking what ever they may want from them. The streets, neighborhoods, businesses were destroyed by angry protesters. Their reasons were clear, all they wanted was some

Early 1990’s was a difficult time, especially for the south central. During 1991 and 19992 was the worst record for crime; the murder rate was the highest in LA in history. There were about 1077 murders many of which came from gang violence in south central. The match that set off the 1992 LA Riots. Was the videotape of Rodney King being brutally beaten by five police officers, as well as the murder of Latasha Harlins in 1991. The officers were found not guilty by a mostly white jury, so the African American grew angry and disappointed. The Korean woman who killed Latasha didn’t serve jail time, which caused a deep strain on the relationship between Korean and Africans. White people were the main targets, but Koreans also experienced gun battles

A team of the Los Angeles Police Department followed King for approximately eight miles as he was speeding within city limits. Consequent to capturing him as a result of another crew interfering, the police officers drew an aggressive King out of his car and the fact that he was resisting arrest influenced them to proceed with using extreme force involving "striking him with a baton 56 times and forcefully kicking him six times" (Rodney King beating 1).

The Los Angeles Riots developed as a way to show frustration at the injustice that occurred at the expense of Rodney King, with the acquittal of the four white police officers. The escalation that occurred as a result, could have been prevented, had police chief Darryl Gates mobilized troops into the affected areas immediately, instead of prolonging the deployment. As a member of law enforcement, with over 42 years of experience, there is no way that he could not have anticipated the backlash that ensued. The complete brutalization and dehumanization of black people in the United States is appalling and it has led to inhumane, atrocious fall out that has had impacts that have carried forward to the present.

On April 28, 1992, several riots erupted throughout Los Angeles, California due to the unjust trial when several officers were caught on video brutally beating Mr. Rodney King on the street. Thousands of African-Americans were unhappy with the decision of the court allowing the four officers to get off with no charges. During the LA Riots, over 55 people were killed, 2,000 were injured, and 7,000 were put into police custody. It was nearly $1 billion in damages done to property and 4,000 buildings in the city were burned. The three days of the LA Riots will be remembered in history because of the police brutality, national reaction to the violence, and the people's

All four officers were acquitted in their first trial. Following that verdict, large riots broke out in the predominately African American area of South Central Los Angeles (Walker, 2007). There appeared to be a sense that the African American community did not feel that protection from police brutality and justice could be found in the American criminal justice system.

In 1965 riots in L.A. occurred after a routine stop by the police involving drunk driving. This stop occurred very close the driver’s residence where massive crowd began to build. When it was all said and done

The Los Angeles riots in 1992 did not stem from the beating of Rodney King but stemmed from a much larger problem. Individuals were frustrated with being placed in a social hierarchy based on the color of their skin. The beating of Rodney King was the "cherry on top" for the bottled up frustration people felt. In the United States, there is a social hierarchy, and the judicial system works differently depending on where the individual is placed within the hierarchy. The riots were a non-constructive way to fight for equal rights within the judicial system, but many individuals were fed up with society telling them where they should be placed. A social hierarchy has existed since the beginning of time. The inner workings of the overabundance

Riots break out over in south-central Los Angeles California on April 29, 1992 in protest of the unjust actions of police brutality against Rodney King by Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, and Timothy Wind on March 3, 1991, unbenounced to the perpetrators, a civilian was filming the act unfold using a personal with a personal video camera. The video was released to the press, causing outrage and sparking debates around the issues of police brutality. King was released without charges, and on March 15, the three officers who brutally beat King, and Stacey Koon, their commanding officer were brought to court and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force, as well as Powell and Koon for filing false reports. However

Rodney King, one of America’s most powerful civil rights activists for people abused by police, has taught the world a lesson in his plea: “People, I just want to say, can’t we all get along?” On March 3, 1991, after a high-speed chase, King was pulled out of his car, thrown on to the ground, and beaten up by the Los Angeles police, which George Holliday videotaped. The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and one officer was charged with using of excessive force. However, after a three-month trial, which was held in Simi Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers. This inflamed the citizens, which resulted in the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots.

There were many different reasons that may have caused the 1992 riot in Los Angeles to occur. However, not all of them were the main reasons of the riot. There were many side causes, for instance, after the video of Rodney King being beaten was shown on television, residents of South Central Los Angeles started to act up. They were affected by how King was being mistreated and how police brutality played a big role in the video and their society. King’s incident was very similar to many other cases. For example, Anna Deavere Smith mentioned a case about Michael Zinzun from her book Twilight Los Angeles 1992, Zinzun witnessed a police

From the start, Los Angeles was becoming disconnected from its people as a whole. As the diversity of cultures seemed to grow slowly in population. Decades seemed to surpass, as it did so, shift seemed to rise into an intense racial isolation amongst cultures. It seemed as though whites held the power, while the minorities just played as their pawns. The African-American and Hispanic communities were one of the biggest and angriest minority communities in LA. The LA Riots were initiated when Rodney King was not given the justice he deserved. The American people became enraged and more divided than ever. Segregation commenced when LA seemed to be forming as a city, but because minorities were not given the equality they deserved, chaos arose. As detachment became regular, the lack of morality brought segregation to its ultimate peek.