The Los Angeles Riots of 1992

            In April of 1992 Los Angeles California was plunged into the worst civil unrest that the city had seen since the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s. Fueled by anger surrounding the acquittal of four white police officers accused of savagely beating an African-American resident of Los Angeles, Rodney King, protest turned to riot with the savage beating of a white truck driver, Reginald Denny, at an intersection in South Central Los Angeles. Rodney King’s beating had been clearly videotaped by a bystander, who witnessed the Los Angeles Police Department deliver 56 baton blows while King lay on the ground. Violence began at the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues in South Central L.A. and the police left the residents to fend for themselves as the city devolved into chaos. Violence, looting, and arson continued largely unchecked for the next three days as National Guard Troops began to secure the area. It wasn’t until the arrival of Federal troops on May 3^rd that the majority of the uprising was quelled. Federal troops were stationed in the area until May 27^th when tensions were finally normal enough.

A truly staggering toll was taken on the city of Los Angeles. In the course of the riot property damage and destruction, looting, arson, and outright assault of all types was the norm. Videos of the destruction, desperation, and disorder broadcast at the time on national news networks are now available on YouTube and show just how lawless unpoliced Los Angeles became. The videos are difficult to watch and truly unbelievable at times. The riot was truly destructive. 54 people died in the violence, over 2,300 people were injured, and estimates of property damage are around $1 Billion.

While this violence was in many ways senseless and motivations may have differed from person to person, the initial impetus was the acquittal of the officers in the Rodney King trial. This racial tension that lay underneath the violence was interesting in that 1992 was an election year. In fact, primary elections would take place in Los Angeles County and California as a whole just one week after the National Guard fully retreated from Los Angeles. This Primary narrative ignores a large group of people who also found themselves in the middle of the racial battle which raged in South Central Los Angeles. The prominent Korean-American community there found their businesses threatened with violence and looting due to their own publicized legal trial regarding the killing of an African-American woman by a Korean-American shopkeeper who believed the woman was attempting to rob a convenience store. Soon Ja Du, the defendant in the trial, was only sentenced to probation for a voluntary manslaughter charge, and many in the African-American community were angered by what they saw as leeway given to someone who committed a violent act against another African-American. Community members of the time would have applied this context to the trial of the police officers who beat Rodney King. Impacts on the Korean-American community can also be seen in this interactive timeline from the Los Angeles Times, which also gives a better context to when many of these events took place.

            The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 were not a protest in the way that many were in the 20^th Century. Their harsh and deadly violence often contradicted any goal that protesters/rioters had, and there was simply no organization. However, the riot was certainly carried out to send a message to those in power, especially those white citizens of Los Angeles who had turned a blind eye to the violence carried out by the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department. Though the protest had no agreement or outcome which produced direct change, it highlighted something troubling about race in the 20^th Century: between the race riots of the 1960’s and the early 1990’s, many things had not changed.

Though race relations have gotten better and better, they were certainly still divided enough in the late 20^th Century, and now into the 21^st Century to prompt this type of behavior. Gaudium et Spes encourages people to participate in the kinds of communities that improve life for all members, and while the rioters of 1992 Los Angeles certainly did not improve their communities, their government also failed to develop a world in which they could flourish and do so equitably. While governments look to changes in the future they must also look back at the failings of government in times like the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.

Korean-American citizens of Los Angeles defend themselves and their businesses from rioters. Courtesy of CNN.

A looted and destroyed store is surveyed by a Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Deputy. Courtesy of NBC Los Angeles.