The "Rodney King" Riots

23 years ago this week, Los Angeles was consumed by civil unrest and riots. Similar to the Baltimore situation of today, the riots in Los Angeles began because of police brutality directed at a black man.

 Photo: dailynews.com

On March 1991, Rodney King and his friends had been out drinking and while King was driving, police attempted to pull him over. King later said that he panicked because driving while intoxicated was a violation of his parole, so he attempted to flee. Eventually, he pulled over in front of an apartment complex. 

Photo: articles.latimes.com

King resisted arrest and the officers attempted to swarm him in order to subdue him. This tactic did not work so they tried a taser, which also was ineffective. Then the police began to beat him with batons. The entire beating was captured on videotape by a resident of the apartments. Once King was subdued, the police transported him to a hospital. 

The video footage was turned over to a local TV station and it quickly spread throughout the news networks and around the world. What everyone saw was a use of excessive force and an example of police brutality.  Due to the footage, the officers were charged with excessive force. Initially it did not appear to be a racial issue but evidence discovered during the investigation indicated that there was a pattern of racist behavior by the LA Police Department. 

Photo: newsone.com

Instead of holding the trial in LA, it was moved to suburban Simi County for fear of an inability to call an impartial jury. Simi County was then and is now an overwhelmingly white county. None of the jurors were black and most were pro-police. This makeup of the jury was ignored by the media, which made the country believe that the video footage would sway the jury. Instead, the jury acquitted three of the officers and could not make a decision on the fourth. 

Photo: darleeneisms.la

Hours after the verdict was handed down on April 29, 1992, violent protestors took to the streets of LA and quickly outnumbered law enforcement. In response, the police retreated and the violent rioters took control. They attacked innocent bystanders and inflicted damage to the local infrastructure. The riots lasted for six days and it wasn't until the California National Guard was called in and a citywide curfew was implemented did the violence end. It was the largest riot since the 1960s and had the highest death toll since the New York City draft riots of 1863. 

Photo: s-usih.org