The 1992 Los Angeles Riots Essay - 1587 Words

Introduction This paper will cover the events that took place within the first five days in south central Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict . History In 1992 the city of Los Angeles was one of our nation’s largest cities. It had an estimated population of over 9 million.1 The city had been in a deteriorating state for several years. There also had been tension growing between the citizens and the police for nearly the last 30 years. This had a lot to do with riots that occurred in Los Angeles back in the 1960’s.2 In 1965 riots in L.A. occurred after a routine stop by the police involving drunk driving. This stop occurred very close the driver’s residence where massive crowd began to build. When it was all said and done†¦show more content†¦Over the course of the next year the tensions and suspense from this case continued to grow. The police knew that civil unrest was going to occur no matter how the outcome of this case, but knew it stood to be worse had the defendants be found not guilty. On April 29th the day of the verdict, there were reporters both inside and outside the court room. This would add to how wide spread the unrest would occur and how fast it would develop. The verdict had come out that all four police officers were found not guilty on all accounts except for one account on one officer in which it was ruled a mistrial on that account.4 With the large amount of media coverage and the anticipation of a guilty verdict by many of the local citizens, the disturbances and violence spread quickly . Execution/action The initial start point of the riots (caught on camera) was at the intersection of Florence and Normandie. There police were making an arrest where crowds quickly arose. The police called for backup but were still having difficulty with the arrest as they were continually being interfered with and were outnumbered. The situation rapidly became dangerous and in what would later become a very controversial call, the overwhelmed police were ordered to retreat. This retreat would prove to be very empowering to the now formed mob. Since the police would not return to thatShow MoreRelatedThe Los Angeles Riots Of 19921524 Words   |  7 PagesThe Los Angeles riots of 1992, the worst civil disturbance in America, brought to light the deepening racial and class divisions that were growing in the U.S. The division of between the rich and the poor, the immigrants and natives, and majority and minority produced an atmosphere of fear, distrust, and hopelessness. Due to the struggle to gain power by racial and ethnic groups, the aftermath of the Los Angeles riots was clouded with racial and ethnical conflicts. 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