Editing 1992 Los Angeles riots (section)

==Background==
[[File:South Central Los Angeles 1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[South Los Angeles|South Central Los Angeles]], where much of the rioting took place<ref name="ReferenceA">"The Final Report: The L.A. Riots", ''National Geographic Channel'', aired on October 4, 2006, 10 pm [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]], approximately 38 minutes into the hour (including commercial breaks).</ref>]]

===Policing in Los Angeles===
Before the release of the [[Rodney King]] videotape, [[Minority group|minority]] community leaders in Los Angeles had repeatedly complained about harassment and use of excessive force against their residents by [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD) officers.<ref name="ReinholdReport">{{cite web|date=July 10, 1991|title=Violence and Racism Are Routine In Los Angeles Police, Study Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/home/rodney-report.html|access-date=April 19, 2017|website=www.nytimes.com}}</ref> [[Daryl Gates]], Chief of the LAPD from 1978 to 1992, has been blamed for the riots.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cannon|first1=Lou|last2=Lee|first2=Gary|date=1992-05-02|title=Much Of Blame Is Laid On Chief Gates|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/05/02/much-of-blame-is-laid-on-chief-gates/a19f266d-e9a3-419e-a0bb-c0bd73974971/|url-access=subscription|access-date=2018-11-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Mydans|first=Seth|date=1992-10-22|title=Failures of City Blamed for Riot In Los Angeles|language=en|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/22/us/failures-of-city-blamed-for-riot-in-los-angeles.html|access-date=2018-11-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123043203/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/22/us/failures-of-city-blamed-for-riot-in-los-angeles.html|archive-date=2018-11-23}}</ref> According to one study, "scandalous racist violence... marked the LAPD under Gates's tempestuous leadership."<ref>{{cite book|last=Schrader|first=Stuart|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvp2n2kv|title=Badges without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing|date=2019|volume=56|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-29561-2|page=216|doi=10.2307/j.ctvp2n2kv|jstor=j.ctvp2n2kv|s2cid=204688900}}</ref> Under Gates, the LAPD had begun [[Operation Hammer (1987)|Operation Hammer]] in April 1987, which was a large-scale militarized push in [[Los Angeles]].

The origin of Operation Hammer can be traced to the [[1984 Summer Olympics|1984 Olympic Games]] held in Los Angeles. Under Gates's direction, the LAPD expanded gang sweeps for the duration of the Olympics. These were implemented across wide areas of the city but especially in South Central and East Los Angeles, areas of predominately minority residents. After the games were over, the city began to revive the use of earlier anti-[[trade union]] and anti-[[Syndicalism|syndicalist]] laws in order to maintain the security policy started for the Olympic games. The police more frequently conducted mass arrests of [[African American]] youth. Citizen complaints against [[police brutality]] increased 33 percent in the period 1984–1989.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/want-understand-1992-la-riots-start-1984-la-olympics/|title=Want to Understand the 1992 LA Riots? Start with the 1984 LA Olympics|first=Dave|last=Zirin|date=April 30, 2012|magazine=The Nation}}</ref>

By 1990 more than 50,000 people, mostly minority males, had been arrested in such raids.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cockburn|first=Alexander|url=https://archive.org/details/whiteoutciadrugs00cock|title=Whiteout: The CIA, Drugs, and the Press|author2=Jeffrey St. Clair|publisher=[[Verso Books|Verso]]|year=1998|isbn=978-1-85984-139-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/whiteoutciadrugs00cock/page/77 77]|author-link=Alexander Cockburn|author2-link=Jeffrey St. Clair|url-access=registration}}</ref> Critics have stated that the operation was racially motivated because it used [[racial profiling]], targeting African American and [[Mexican American]] youths.<ref>{{cite book|last=Moody|first=Mia Nodeen|title=Black and Mainstream Press' Framing of Racial Profiling: A Historical Perspective|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7618-4036-7|page=14}}</ref> The perception that police had targeted non-white citizens likely contributed to the anger that erupted in the 1992 riots.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kato|first=M. T.|title=From Kung Fu to Hip Hop: globalization, revolution, and popular culture|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]|year=2007|isbn=978-0-7914-6991-0|pages=173–174}}</ref>

The [[Christopher Commission]] later concluded that a "significant number" of LAPD officers "repetitively use excessive force against the public and persistently ignore the written guidelines of the department regarding force". The biases related to race, gender, and sexual orientation were found to have regularly contributed to the LAPD's use of excessive force.<ref name="Reinhold" /> The commission's report called for the replacement of both Chief [[Daryl Gates]] and the civilian [[Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners|Police Commission]].<ref name="Reinhold" />

===Tensions toward Koreans===
{{See also|Killing of Latasha Harlins|African American–Korean American relations}}

In the year before the riots, 1991, there was growing resentment and violence between the African American and [[Korean American]] communities.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-riots-unity-meeting-20170429-story.html?_amp=true|title=25 years after racial tensions erupted, black and Korean communities reflect on L.A. riots|access-date=June 28, 2020|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=April 29, 2017|first1=Sarah|last1=Parvini|first2=Victoria|last2=Kim}}</ref> Racial tensions had been simmering for years between these groups. In 1989, the release of [[Spike Lee]]'s film ''[[Do the Right Thing]]'' highlighted urban tensions between white people, black people, and Koreans over racism and economic inequality.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/aug/02/do-the-right-thing-review-spike-lee|title=Do the Right Thing review – Spike Lee's towering, timeless tour de force|work=[[The Guardian]]|first=Peter|last=Bradshaw|date=August 2, 2019|access-date=June 28, 2020}}</ref> Many Korean shopkeepers were upset because they suspected shoplifting from their black customers and neighbors. Many black customers were angry because they routinely felt disrespected and humiliated by Korean store owners. Neither group fully understood the extent of the cultural differences and language barriers, which further fueled tensions.<ref>{{cite news|title=When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots|url=https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots|access-date=2020-12-05|website=NPR|date=April 26, 2017|language=en|last1=Sastry|first1=Anjuli|last2=Bates|first2=Karen Grigsby}}</ref>

On March 16, 1991, a year before the Los Angeles riots, storekeeper Soon Ja Du shot and killed black ninth-grader [[Killing of Latasha Harlins|Latasha Harlins]] after a physical altercation. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and the jury recommended the maximum sentence of 16 years, but the judge, [[Joyce Karlin]], decided against prison time and sentenced Du to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/04/27/151524921/how-koreatown-rose-from-the-ashes-of-l-a-riots |title=How Koreatown Rose From The Ashes Of L.A. Riots |publisher=NPR |date=April 27, 2012 |access-date=May 3, 2014}}</ref> Relations between the African American and Korean communities significantly worsened after this, and the former became increasingly mistrustful of the criminal justice system.<ref>{{cite web| title = When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots| publisher = [[National Public Radio]]| date = April 26, 2017| url = https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots}}</ref> A state appeals court later unanimously upheld Judge Karlin's sentencing decision in April 1992, a week before the riots.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?q=Soon+Ja+Du&hl=en&as_sdt=2,21&case=8405426532110531165&scilh=0 People v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County (Du)], 5 Cal. App. 4th 822, 7 Cal.Rptr.2d 177 (1992), from [[Google Scholar]]. Retrieved on September 14, 2012.</ref>

The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported on several other significant incidents of violence between the communities at the time:

<blockquote>Other recent incidents involve the tragic events of May 25, 1991, where two employees at a liquor store near 35th Street and Central Avenue were shot. Both victims, who had recently immigrated from Korea, lost their lives after complying with the demands of a robber described by the police as an African American. Additionally, last Thursday, an African American man suspected of committing a robbery in an auto parts store on Manchester Avenue was fatally injured by his accomplice. The incident occurred when his accomplice accidentally discharged a shotgun round during a struggle with the Korean American owner of the shop. "This violence is deeply unsettling," stated store owner Park. "But sadly, who speaks up for these victims?"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-18-me-837-story.html |title=Boycott of Store Where Man Was Killed Is Urged : Racial tensions: The African American was slain while allegedly trying to rob the market owned by a Korean American |first1=Rick |last1=Holguin |first2=John H. |last2=Lee |date=June 18, 1991 |access-date=May 30, 2020 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref></blockquote>

===Rodney King incident===
{{See also|Rodney King}}

On the evening of March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving west on the [[Interstate 210 and State Route 210 (California)|Foothill Freeway]] (I-210) through the [[Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles|Sunland-Tujunga]] neighborhood of the [[San Fernando Valley]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-03-30-mn-850-story.html|title=Officers Claimed Self-Defense in Beating of King|first=Richard A.|last=Serrano|date=March 30, 1991|access-date=May 29, 2020|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The [[California Highway Patrol]] (CHP) attempted to initiate a [[traffic stop]] and a high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to {{convert|115|mph|abbr=on}}, before King eventually exited the freeway at Foothill Boulevard. The pursuit continued through residential neighborhoods of [[Lake View Terrace]] in San Fernando Valley before King stopped in front of the [[Hansen Dam]] recreation center. When King finally stopped, LAPD and CHP officers surrounded King's vehicle and married CHP officers Timothy and Melanie Singer arrested him and the other occupants.<ref name="query.nytimes.com">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/20/us/sergeant-says-king-appeared-to-be-on-drugs.html |title=Sergeant Says King Appeared to Be on Drugs |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 20, 1992 |access-date=March 4, 2011}}</ref>

After the two passengers were placed in the patrol car, five [[Los Angeles Police Department]] (LAPD) officers – [[Stacey Koon]], Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, and Rolando Solano – surrounded King, who came out of the car last. None of the officers involved were African-American; officers Koon, Wind and Powell were [[White Americans|Caucasian]], while Briseno and Solano were of [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic origin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://standpointmag.co.uk/more-than-black-and-white/|title=More than black and white|date=10 July 2020|access-date=29 December 2020|publisher=Standpoint|last=Swift|first=David|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128053028/https://standpointmag.co.uk/more-than-black-and-white/|url-status=dead}}</ref> They [[Electroshock gun|tasered]] King, struck him dozens of times with side-handled batons, kick-stomped him in his back and tackled him to the ground before handcuffing him and hogtying his legs. Sergeant Koon later testified at trial that King resisted arrest and that he believed King was under the influence of [[Phencyclidine|PCP]] at the time of the arrest, causing him to be aggressive and violent toward the officers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/20/us/sergeant-says-king-appeared-to-be-on-drugs.html|title=Sergeant Says King Appeared to Be on Drugs|date=March 20, 1992|newspaper=The New York Times }}</ref> Video footage of the arrest showed that King attempted to get up each time he was struck and that the police made no attempt to cuff him until he lay still.<ref name=YouTubeNewsBeatingVideo>{{cite web |last1=Faragher |first1=John |title=Rodney King tape on national news |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SW1ZDIXiuS4 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=June 19, 2014}}</ref> A subsequent test of King for the presence of PCP in his body at the time of the arrest was negative.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N14/king.14w.html |title=Prosecution Rests Case in Rodney King Beating Trial |website=tech.mit.edu – The Tech |access-date=May 12, 2016 |archive-date=March 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012123/http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N14/king.14w.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Unbeknownst to the police and King, the incident was captured on a camcorder by local civilian George Holliday from his nearby apartment across from Hansen Dam. The tape was roughly 12 minutes long. While the tape was presented during the trial, some clips of the incident were not released to the public.<ref name=NYDailyHolliday>{{cite news |last1=Gonzalez |first1=Juan |title=George Holliday, the man with the camera who shot Rodney King while police subdued him, got burned, too. He got a quick thanks from King, but history-making video brought him peanuts and even the camera was finally yanked away|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/george-holliday-man-camera-shot-rodney-king-police-beat-burned-article-1.1098931 |work=Daily News|location=New York  |access-date=June 19, 2014 |date=June 20, 2012}}</ref> In a later interview, King, who was on [[parole]] for a robbery conviction and had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery,<ref>{{cite web |author=Doug Linder |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingarrests.html |title=The Arrest Record of Rodney King |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911204525/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingarrests.html |archive-date=September 11, 2010 }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=C0tWztU6f0sC&dq=%22rodney+king%22+wife&pg=RA1-PA41 Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD]{{dead link|date=April 2024|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}} pp. 41–42</ref> said he did not surrender earlier because he was driving while intoxicated, which he knew violated the terms of his parole.

The footage of King being beaten by police became an instant focus of media attention and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States. Coverage was extensive during the first two weeks after the incident: the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' published 43 articles about it,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=%22rodney+king%22&type=current&sortby=RELEVANCE&datetype=6&frommonth=03&fromday=03&fromyear=1991&tomonth=03&today=17&toyear=1991&By=&Title=&at=ALL&Sect=ALL |title=Los Angeles Times: Archives |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-date=January 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111205053/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=%22rodney+king%22&type=current&sortby=RELEVANCE&datetype=6&frommonth=03&fromday=03&fromyear=1991&tomonth=03&today=17&toyear=1991&By=&Title=&at=ALL&Sect=ALL |url-status=dead }}</ref> ''[[The New York Times]]'' published 17 articles,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/search/query?query=rodney+king&srchst=nyt&d=&o=&v=&c=&sort=closest&n=10&dp=0&daterange=period&year1=1991&mon1=03&day1=03&year2=1991&mon2=03&day2=17&frow=10 |title=The New York Times: Search for 'rodney king' |work=The New York Times |access-date=August 11, 2010}}{{verify source|date=June 2012}}</ref> and the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' published 11 articles.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=%22rodney+king%22&type=current&sortby=RELEVANCE&datetype=6&frommonth=03&fromday=03&fromyear=1991&tomonth=03&today=17&toyear=1991&By=&Title=&Sect=ALL |title=Archives: Chicago Tribune |publisher=Pqasb.pqarchiver.com |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-date=January 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111205258/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/results.html?st=advanced&QryTxt=%22rodney+king%22&type=current&sortby=RELEVANCE&datetype=6&frommonth=03&fromday=03&fromyear=1991&tomonth=03&today=17&toyear=1991&By=&Title=&Sect=ALL |url-status=dead }}</ref> Eight stories appeared on [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]], including a 60-minute special on ''[[Primetime Live]].''<ref>{{cite web|title=Uprising: Hip Hop & The LA Riots|url=http://www.spottelevision.com/breakingnews/lariots20yearslater.html|access-date=November 3, 2013}}</ref>

Upon watching the tape of the beating, LAPD chief of police [[Daryl Gates]] said:

{{Blockquote|I stared at the screen in disbelief. I played the one-minute-50-second tape again. Then again and again, until I had viewed it 25 times. And still I could not believe what I was looking at. To see my officers engage in what appeared to be excessive use of force, possibly criminally excessive, to see them beat a man with their batons 56 times, to see a sergeant on the scene who did nothing to seize control, was something I never dreamed I would witness.<ref>"Baltimore Is Everywhere: A Partial Culling of Unrest Across America", (Condensed from the ''Encyclopedia of American Race Riots'', ed. Walter Rucker and James Nathaniel Upton), ''New York'' magazine, May 18–31, 2015, p. 33.</ref>}}

===Charges and trial===
The [[Los Angeles County District Attorney]] subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force.<ref name="NYT_19920306">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/06/us/police-beating-trial-opens-with-replay-of-videotape.html |title=Police Beating Trial Opens With Replay of Videotape |work=The New York Times |date=March 6, 1992 |first=Seth |last=Mydans |access-date=April 20, 2010}}</ref> Due to the extensive media coverage of the arrest, the trial received a [[change of venue]] from [[Los Angeles County]] to [[Simi Valley]] in neighboring [[Ventura County, California|Ventura County]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-simi-valley-20170507-story.html|title=An aggravating anniversary for Simi Valley, where a not-guilty verdict sparked the '92 L.A. riots|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=Robin |last=Abcarian|date= May 7, 2017|access-date=May 7, 2017}}</ref> The jury had no members who were entirely African American.<ref>{{cite news|last=Serrano|first=Richard|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-03-mn-2987-story.html|title=Jury Picked for King Trial; No Blacks Chosen|date=March 3, 1992|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=March 4, 2020}}</ref> The jury was composed of nine white Americans (three women, six men), one biracial man,<ref name="laist_20120428">{{cite news |url=http://laist.com/2012/04/28/rodney_king_juror_talks_for_the_fir.php |title=Rodney King Juror Talks About His Black Father and Family For the First Time |work=laist |date=April 28, 2012 |access-date=March 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504013335/http://laist.com/2012/04/28/rodney_king_juror_talks_for_the_fir.php |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref> one Latin American woman, and one [[Asian American|Asian-American]] woman.<ref name="NYT_19920506">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/us/after-the-riots-a-juror-describes-the-ordeal-of-deliberations.html |title=After the riots; A Juror Describes the Ordeal of Deliberations |work=The New York Times |date=May 6, 1992 |access-date=March 4, 2011}}</ref> The prosecutor, Terry White, was black.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |title=Jurist – The Rodney King Beating Trials |publisher=Jurist.law.pitt.edu |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826053233/http://www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2010 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/white.jpg Law.umkc.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417235534/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/white.jpg |date=April 17, 2007 }}</ref>

On April 29, 1992, the seventh day of [[Deliberation|jury deliberations]], the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The jury [[Hung jury|could not agree on a verdict]] for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force.<ref name="NYT_19920506"/> The verdicts were based in part on the first three seconds of a blurry, 13-second segment of the videotape that, according to journalist [[Lou Cannon]], had not been aired by television news stations in their broadcasts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/authors_corner/jan-june98/cannon_4-7.html |title=Online NewsHour Forum: Authors' Corner with Lou Cannon – April 7, 1998 |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812192824/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/authors_corner/jan-june98/cannon_4-7.html |archive-date=August 12, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=All 4 Acquitted in King Beating : Verdict Stirs Outrage; Bradley Calls It Senseless: Trial: Ventura County jury rejects charges of excessive force in episode captured on videotape. A mistrial is declared on one count against Officer Powell|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-30-mn-1942-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 30, 1992 |first=Richard A.|last=Serrano}}</ref>

The first two seconds of videotape,<ref>{{cite web |author=doug linder |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingvideo.html |title=videotape |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823001955/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingvideo.html |archive-date=August 23, 2010 }}</ref><!-- do NOT remove that citation please, it shows the complete video --> contrary to the claims made by the accused officers, show King attempting to flee past Laurence Powell. During the next one minute and 19 seconds, King is beaten continuously by the officers. The officers testified that they tried to restrain King before the videotape's starting point physically, but King could throw them off physically.<ref>The American edition of the [[National Geographic Channel]] aired the program "The Final Report: The L.A. Riots" on October 4, 2006 10 pm [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]], approximately 27 minutes into the hour (including commercial breaks).</ref>

Afterward, the prosecution suggested that the jurors may have acquitted the officers due to them becoming desensitized to the beating's violence, as the defense played the videotape repeatedly in slow motion, breaking it down until its emotional impact was lost.<ref name=":3" />

Outside the Simi Valley courthouse where the acquittals were delivered, county sheriff's deputies protected Stacey Koon from angry protesters on the way to his car. Movie director [[John Singleton]], who was in the crowd at the courthouse, predicted, "By having this verdict, what these people done, they lit the fuse to a bomb."<ref>CNN Documentary ''Race + Rage: The Beating of Rodney King'', aired originally on March 5, 2011; approximately 14 minutes into the hour (not including commercial breaks).</ref>