Police Brutality And The Riot

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

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.

The Watts riots began in the summer of 1965, in a city in Los Angeles called Watts. It all began with the arrest of a young African American by a white California Highway Patrol officer. Now, it was not because he was arrested for already doing something illegal, it was for the way the police officer treated the individual. According to Lacine Holland, an eyewitness to the arrest, the officer “took him and threw him in the car like a bag of laundry and kicked his feet in and slammed the door.” (Flournoy) This caused lots of unrest among the fellow residents of Watts. This was just the beginning of years of pent up oppression for the minorities, which participated in the event. Similarly, in 1992, the Rodney King riots also arose due to the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers for their brutal beating

Rodney King was a black motorist who was beaten and arrested by four white police officers in Los Angeles on March 3, 1991. The policemen were unaware of being filmed until, George Holliday, captured the beating on videotape from his apartment window and released it to the press (Alexander, Jacobs, and Seidman, 2000). This incident was not a shock to individuals living in the Los Angeles County as it was common to be victimized by policemen. The difference in Rodney King’s case with other

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.

4 police men all but one charge connected to a severe beating because the man was in a high speed pursuit ,but then he stopped and got caught.So now the cops all but one got a charge for beating the african american motorist in march 1991.A result of 50 people were killed,more than 2,300 people were injured and about thousands were arrested on that night in the riot.About 1,100 buildings ended up being wrecked.The cost for the buildings was about 1 billion dollars for the damage that people had done to the buildings.It was the most devastating riots in american history.And still is to this day.There was a lot of damage in the riot.White police force practiced racial profiling and engaged in racist

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

In August 2015, Ferguson was experienced an insurgent uprising. There were already previous victims of police brutality that have been affected, but the life of Michael Brown being taken away caused people to completely snap. The fact that racial injustice, the rejection of freedom of speech, and disrespecting American citizens was part of the killing of the teen made people create a full on riot protesting the transgression hoping to make it all end and to prevent any more lives from being taken all because of policemen changing the meaning of their job to something not even close to serving its purpose.

(Garcia) A year later in April of 1992 a jury acquitted the officers and “rioting, looting, arson and extreme violence (ensued) across the city of Los Angeles”. (Adams). Two of the officers were later convicted by a federal jury of violating King’s civil rights. (Garcia)

In May of 1992, Manhattan borough president and NLC Advisory Council's Liaison for Diversity in Governance’s Ruth Messinger expressed, “Violence begets violence. We must have the strength to break this cycle” out of frustration resulting from detrimental civil rights riots stemming from the brutal beating of an African American man (Baker). From April 29th to May 1st of 1992 protestors throughout the Los Angeles area displayed violent actions while rioting against a racially biased verdict. The 1992 Rodney King riots in Los Angeles show how mob mentality can negatively impact an entire city.

NFL players across the league have launched a new protest to take a stand against police brutality against unarmed African Americans. This protest takes place during the national anthem of the United States of America when players take a knee rather than standing at attention with hand over heart. Colin Kaepernick started this movement in 2016 when he felt that he did not want to honor a country that allows such violence on minorities. While police brutality is a serious problem in America, taking a knee during the national anthem is not the proper way to protest this issue. This protest is a disrespectful and a waste of effort protesting at the wrong times and offending countless people.

Los Angeles in the 1990s was plagued by oppression and conflict that thrived in racial divisions. These divisions created a low level of inter-racial acceptance, especially in the highly segregated areas of LA. When Rodney King was brutally assaulted by white police officers, the trial became a symbol of racial tensions throughout the city. Minority groups empathized with King, as they too had been victims of society’s neglect. On April 29, 1992, following the verdict of the jury: not guilty on all counts, Los Angeles burst into violence. Originating at the intersection of Florence and Normandie, enrage rioters blocked the roads and attacked drivers unable to flee. By the next day, fires were widespread throughout the city, and there were many casualties and hundreds injured. Police forces were far overwhelmed so many Koreans storeowners took up arms to defend their shops from looting and destruction by predominately Blacks rioters. By the third day, the military brought the riots under control, which had left a toll of 60 deaths, 2,000 people injured, and billions of dollars in property damage, 40% of which was to Korean-own. Although the violence between Koreans and Blacks was sparked by the Rodney King trial, the strife was primarily fueled by preexisting racial tensions.

People throughout Los Angeles were outraged. Riots and Looting began soon after the verdict was announced. My father was at a friend’s apartment in Long Beach when it started. When he heard about the riots from the tv he decided he would wait for things to calm down then go home. He said “There were a lot of angry people in Long Beach. And gangs were pretty big there. The Crips were big in Long Beach. I figured I should just wait until things calmed down a little bit.” At some point he opened the window to see what things were like and if he could make the drive back to Huntington Beach. He said “I could hear tires screeching and and people yelling from down below. It was a tall building so I could see the fires all around. Just buildings lit on fire.” He stayed until there until about 3 am. He recounted the next morning at the halfway house where he had a job helping the tenants. “One of the tenants was getting ready to go to work. He was a security guard in somewhere in LA. I told him ‘don’t go to work today. It’s complete madness out there. Just stay home for the day.’ But he decided to go anyway. Luckily he was okay.” The riots lasted until May 4, 1992 with 63 killed and over 2000 injured. News of the riots rang out throughout the nation attesting to the frustration of the black community. It was ugly and gruesome and shined a spotlight on racial injustice in

Rodney King was involved in a high speed chase with the Los Angeles police on March 3, 1991, when caught King was pulled from the vehicle and brutally beaten by a multitude of LAPD officers. The entire incident was caught on tape by an amateur cameraman George Holiday (“Rodney”, n.d.). The officers in question were all charged by the state of California with excessive force by a police officer and assault with a deadly weapon. During the trial Koon reported that the beating the King suffered was justifiable due to the officers believing that King was on PCP (“Key”, n.d.) Therefore, due to Koon’s exemplary record and the majority of the jury being white, all the charges were acquitted. Additionally, the news of the acquittal inflamed the citizens, resulting in the infamous Los Angeles riots in 1992 (“Rodney”, n.d.).