Los Angeles Riots 1992

Los Angeles 1992

On March 3, 1991, a man by the name of Rodney King was brutally  beaten by the LAPD which sparked a major problem in the African-American community. After a year of the incident the 4 LAPD officers were in a major court case in Simi Valley which was a predominantly a white community. Everyone including the Mayor of Los Angeles at the time expected the 4 officers to be found guilty for their actions but, they were acquitted 3 of the 4 for their actions. This spark what is one of the biggest riots in the history of the US. That night that the trial took place in February 29, 1992 there was a 4-day long riot that took place in South LA. The riots destroyed over 1,000 building, injured 2,500 people,and killed 58. Over 16,000 people were arrested. The riots caused over $1 billion in damage.

One of the first places where people started to riot in was Florence and Normandie, which is in South-Central Los Angeles. Rioters would throw beer cans at motorist which turned into people getting dragged out of their vehicles and being beaten on the streets. One of these victims was Reginald Denny who was pulled out of his vehicle and nearly beaten to death. At this time mayor Tom Bradley called a state of emergency for how out of control the city was at the time. The city try to combat these harsh times by calling in the national guard, who sent 2,000 troops, to protect the city from its citizens. A curfew was also set in the city. The sell of ammunition and gasoline, except to automobiles, was also prohibited. Bus service was canceled city wide. Mail delivery was halt in South Los Angeles, school was canceled, professional basketball games were canceled, many employers also told their workers to stay home.

Many of the places targeted were Korean businesses due to the killing of unarmed 15 year old Latasha Harlins who was killed over some orange juice by a Korean shop owner who was not not sent to jail for her actions. Many of the Korean shop owners armed himself with firearms to try to defend their businesses from the rioters.