1992 Los Angeles riots

The 1992 Los Angeles riots, also known as the LA riots, the Rodney King uprising or the Rodney King riots, was sparked on April 29, 1992 when a mostly white jury acquitted four police officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King. Thousands of people in Los Angeles, mainly young black and Latino males, joined in what has often been characterized as a race riot, involving mass law-breaking, including looting and arson.

Underlying causes

In addition to the immediate trigger of the Rodney King verdict, there were many other factors cited as reasons for the unrest, including: the extremely high unemployment among residents of the South Central region of Los Angeles, California, which had been hit very hard by the nation-wide recession; a long-standing perception that the LAPD engaged in racial profiling and used excessive force, supported by an investigation led by former diplomat Warren Christopher; and specific anger over the light sentence given to a Korean shop-owner for the shooting of Latasha Harlins, a young African-American woman. Additionally, in the time between the public revelation of King's beating and the trial verdict, the two largest L.A. street gangs, the Crips and the Bloods, agreed to a truce with each other, and began working together to make political demands of the police and the LA political establishment, leading to the establishment of the Christopher Commission.

Related Topics:
South Central - Los Angeles, California - LAPD - Racial profiling - Warren Christopher - Latasha Harlins - Gang - Crips - Bloods - Christopher Commission

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Racial tensions

Commentators on the eruption of violence emphasize tensions arising from the changing demographics of South Central as building factors to the riots. The racial makeup of historically black neighborhoods changed as Hispanics took up residency and Koreans bought formerly black owned liquor and small grocery stores. According to census data, in the historically black areas affected by the riots, the Hispanic population increased 119% over the decade leading up to the violence.{{ref|latinos}} Economic competition between races in the labor force and in small enterprise provoked more racial animosity; in particular, the 1980s saw downtown Los Angeles' businesses fire most of their black-dominated janitorial staffs and replace them with Latino immigrants earning half the wages paid to their unionized black predecessors. The fracture between Korean businesses and the black residents they served was also especially pronounced. The black community complained of poor treatment by store owners and inflated prices.

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Latasha Harlins shooting

Acrimony between Koreans and blacks peaked in a video documented incident involving a Korean woman, Soon Ja Du, shooting Latasha Harlins, a 15 year old black girl. The incident occurred on March 16, 1991, which shortly followed the Rodney King beating. Soon confronted Harlins over a $1.79 bottle of orange juice sticking outside of her backpack. The security video recording of the incident shows Soon tugging at Harlins' sweater during a verbal exchange before Harlins escalated by punching Soon four times in the face, hard enough to knock her to the floor, which Soon responded to by throwing a chair.{{ref|soon}} Harlins walks away before Soon fatally shoots her in the back. The black community was outraged after Soon was sentenced on November 15, 1991 to 5 years probation, community service, and fines after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter.

Related Topics:
Soon Ja Du - March 16 - 1991 - November 15 - Voluntary manslaughter

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Rodney King trial

On March 3, 1991 African-American motorist Rodney King had been stopped in the Lake View Terrace district by Los Angeles police assisted by other law enforcement. King, who had a record of drunk driving and was believed to be under the influence of PCP, resisted arrest and was tasered, tackled, and beaten with nightsticks by four LAPD officers (three whites and one Hispanic) which was captured on videotape by a private citizen. The video became an international media sensation and a touchpoint for minority activists in Los Angeles and the United States. Eventually the Los Angeles district attorney charged the four with the use of excessive force in the beating. Due to the media coverage of the beating, the trial received a change of venue to a newly constructed courthouse in predominantly white Simi Valley, a Ventura County city. Contrary to popular belief, however, no Simi Valley residents served on the jury, which had been empaneled in Los Angeles County; the jury was, however, drawn from the nearby San Fernando Valley. On April 29, 1992, the jury returned an acquittal on all but one count.

Related Topics:
March 3 - 1991 - African-American - Rodney King - Lake View Terrace - Los Angeles police - PCP - Hispanic - Venue - Simi Valley - Ventura County - April 29 - 1992

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