On March 3, 1991, four Los Angeles Police Department officers
stopped motorist Rodney King (1965–) after a high-speed chase. A man
nearby, who happened to have his video camera ready, photographed
most of King’s arrest, minus the first couple of minutes. The videotape
showed King receiving scores of blows from the four officers’ night
sticks. The witness sold his videotape to a television station in Los
Angeles, California, and soon the incident was being replayed on
national news broadcasts. The television station, however, had edited
the videotape that was seen by the nation. A thirteen-second segment,
in which King charged at the police, was never shown. The public
viewed what followed—four armed officers brutally clubbing an
unarmed, restrained man.
In the resulting storm of protest, the four police officers were
charged with using unnecessary force. Because the video had stirred such
emotion among blacks in Los Angeles, the officers’ defense attorneys got
the trial moved from Los Angeles to nearby Simi Valley, a mostly white
suburb. On April 29, 1992, the jury cleared the police officers of the charges.
Rioting erupts
Resentment about police brutality had been festering among the African
Americans and Hispanics of Los Angeles. The acquittal of the officers in
the King beating was the last straw. Within hours of the verdict, a riot
engulfed the city. Angry black and Hispanic youths began attacking
white motorists, including a truck driver named Reginald Denny
(1953–), who nearly died after being pulled from his truck and beaten
with bricks and bats. A helicopter hovered above photographing the incident, which was later seen on news shows nationwide. Unarmed African
Americans who lived nearby saw the footage on television and ran out to
rescue the unconscious man. Soon after the Denny beating, Fidel Lopez,
a Guatemalan immigrant, was severely beaten at the same intersection.
As the afternoon turned to evening, the violence spread from south
central Los Angeles to other parts of the city. A mob lit a fire in city hall
and damaged the criminal courts building. Arsonists and looters spread
into Hollywood, Long Beach, Culver City, and even into the San
Fernando Valley. The Los Angeles area became dotted with scores of
fires. Surprisingly, the most brutal attacks were reserved for Asian businesses, especially those in poor neighborhoods.
After three days of violence and looting, the riot was finally stopped
with the help of the National Guard and the Marine Corps. Between
fifty and sixty people had died and two thousand more were injured.
Damage estimates climbed to nearly $1 billion. While residents tried to
rebuild their communities, federal authorities charged the four police
officers in the King case with civil rights violations. Two of the officers were found guilty and sentenced to prison.