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City of Anger: 25 Years Since the Los Angeles Uprising of 1992 Began

IN PICTURES: The largest U.S. urban rebellion of the 20th century was sparked by the dire conditions and police terror faced by poor communities.

Twenty-five years ago, on April 29, 1992, the people of Los Angeles, California, could no longer hold back their rage.

When three white officers and one Hispanic officer from the Los Angeles Police Department were filmed brutally beating Black motorist Rodney King with batons and tasers following a high-speed chase on March 31, 1991, the scourge of police terror in L.A. was exposed for all to see.

However, the acquittal of the four cops in a trial held in neighboring Ventura County's Simi Valley – a conservative stronghold and suburban home to retired and serving LAPD officers – struck a nerve in working-class communities of color, setting in motion the largest urban rebellion the U.S. saw in the 20th century.

Responding to the disregard "law and order" had for their communities, Angelenos showed their own indifference to law and order in what The New York Times called a "carnival of looting." Men, women and children of all ethnicities sacked grocery stores, electronics boutiques and strip-malls, carrying off weapons, food, mattresses and auto parts. Intercommunal and gang violence, muggings and home robberies nearly ground to a halt as tension between neighborhoods gave way to a gang truce.

While the uprising is still slandered by mass media outlets as nothing more than a "race riot" or meaningless orgy of violence, the Los Angeles uprising was, in fact, an organic explosion of resistance to the harsh conditions of the LA metropolis.

In 1988, LAPD anti-gang operations in South Central led to the arrests of 1,453 people in a single weekend. The city suffered greatly in the wake of Reaganomics and the early '90s recession. Shopkeepers, depicted by media as entirely helpless victims of senseless Black rage, had a reputation for price-gouging and hostility toward local residents. Absentee slumlords reigned over a blighted urban landscape populated by unemployed families. For the city's working poor and youth, the city resembled a pressure-cooker, and the acquittal of the brutal "pigs" removed the lid.

The repression against the uprising was swift: 5,000 LAPD cops, a thousand L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies, 2,300 California Highway Patrol officers, and 950 L.A. County Marshalls were joined by 9,975 California National Guard soldiers, 3,500 U.S. Army troops and U.S. Marines in armored personnel carriers. FBI agents and U.S. Border Patrol tactical units were deployed to Los Angeles to guard the shopping malls, boutiques and supermarkets. 55 people were killed – mostly by state security forces – and 11,000 people were arrested in the largest mass arrest in U.S. history.

Unlike L.A.'s Watts Rebellion in 1965, little attempt was made by federal or state authorities to grapple with the underlying causes of the uprising. Since the Los Angeles rebellion, the world has witnessed dozens of similar outbreaks of unrest across urban centers in the U.S. in reaction to police terror – a phenomenon that's sure to accelerate under the "law-and-order" presidency of Donald Trump.

In fact, in a recent poll by Loyola Marymount University, nearly 6 out of 10 Los Angelenos feel that more riots are likely in the near future due to the dire economic prospects and lack of opportunities faced by residents and the continuation of police terror across the country and in L.A., specifically.

teleSUR takes a look at the striking photos captured during the Los Angeles Uprising of 1992.

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Rodney King is beat by four police officers. He is laying on the ground and is unarmed.
Rodney King is beat by four police officers. He is laying on the ground and is unarmed. Photo:Video Capture
 Rodney King, who was stopped while driving his car, was left with devastating injuries.
Rodney King, who was stopped while driving his car, was left with devastating injuries. Photo:Reuters
The four police officers indicted for brutalizing black motorist Rodney King in a videotaped attack are shown in these police mug shots taken March 14, 1991. From left are: Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, Officer Theodore J. Briseno, Officer Timothy E. Wind and Officer Laurence Powell. Two served time in prison and all four lost their careers. Today, the LAPD officers whose videotaped beating of Rodney King and subsequent acquittal at a criminal trial triggered the Los Angeles Uprising prefer to fade away, ashamed as they are of the infamy they earned.
The four police officers indicted for brutalizing black motorist Rodney King in a videotaped attack are shown in these police mug shots taken March 14, 1991. From left are: Sgt. Stacey C. Koon, Officer Theodore J. Briseno, Officer Timothy E. Wind and Officer Laurence Powell. Two served time in prison and all four lost their careers. Today, the LAPD officers whose videotaped beating of Rodney King and subsequent acquittal at a criminal trial triggered the Los Angeles Uprising prefer to fade away, ashamed as they are of the infamy they earned. Photo:Handout
Part of a group of about 100 protesters gather outside the East Ventura County Courthouse on May 5, 1992, in Simi Valley, California, to protest the verdict in the trial of the four police officers who were acquitted in the Rodney King case.
Part of a group of about 100 protesters gather outside the East Ventura County Courthouse on May 5, 1992, in Simi Valley, California, to protest the verdict in the trial of the four police officers who were acquitted in the Rodney King case. Photo:AFP
 Protesters upset at the verdict in the Rodney King beating trial demonstrate outside of the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters in Washington D.C. on April 30, 1992.
Protesters upset at the verdict in the Rodney King beating trial demonstrate outside of the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters in Washington D.C. on April 30, 1992. Photo:AFP
A local resident walks past a line of Los Angeles police officers on April 30, shortly before community rage exploded.
A local resident walks past a line of Los Angeles police officers on April 30, shortly before community rage exploded. Photo:Reuters
An unidentified man rips apart a U.S. flag outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, April 29, 1992.
An unidentified man rips apart a U.S. flag outside the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters, April 29, 1992. Photo:Reuters
On April 28, 1992, hundreds of young black men from warring factions of the Blood and Crip gangs were gathered not to protest the Rodney King beating, but to declare a ceasefire.
On April 28, 1992, hundreds of young black men from warring factions of the Blood and Crip gangs were gathered not to protest the Rodney King beating, but to declare a ceasefire. Photo:Public Domain
A business owner's plea for leniency.
A business owner's plea for leniency. Photo:Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA
A protester carries a Malcolm X sign during a rally on April 29 following the acquittal of four LAPD officers for the beating of motorist Rodney King in South Central Los Angeles.
A protester carries a Malcolm X sign during a rally on April 29 following the acquittal of four LAPD officers for the beating of motorist Rodney King in South Central Los Angeles. Photo:Reuters
Stay thirsty: a liquor store being raided on May 1, 1992, in Los Angeles.
Stay thirsty: a liquor store being raided on May 1, 1992, in Los Angeles. Photo:AFP
"Disregard the Law Enforcement Community" Photo:Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA
A California Highway patrolman directs traffic around a shopping center engulfed in flames on April 30, 1992, in Los Angeles.
A California Highway patrolman directs traffic around a shopping center engulfed in flames on April 30, 1992, in Los Angeles. Photo:AFP
April 30, 1992: A store owner and a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer look at the damage caused by looters in Los Angeles.
April 30, 1992: A store owner and a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer look at the damage caused by looters in Los Angeles. Photo:AFP
Onlookers watch as an electronics shop on Olympic Boulevard burns during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown.
Onlookers watch as an electronics shop on Olympic Boulevard burns during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown. Photo:Reuters
April 29, 1992: Flames roar from a Thrifty Drug store in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles.
April 29, 1992: Flames roar from a Thrifty Drug store in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles. Photo:AFP
Looters walk away with goods removed from shops at a shopping center on Vermont Avenue during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown.
Looters walk away with goods removed from shops at a shopping center on Vermont Avenue during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown. Photo:Reuters
A shopping center at the corner of La Brea and Pico engulfed in flames.
A shopping center at the corner of La Brea and Pico engulfed in flames. Photo:Reuters
April 30, 1992: A fire department crew sprays water on a burning mini-mall in south Los Angeles after a night of rioting.
April 30, 1992: A fire department crew sprays water on a burning mini-mall in south Los Angeles after a night of rioting. Photo:AFP
May 1, 1992: An armed volunteer takes a cigarette break while guarding a Korean-American owned business during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown.
May 1, 1992: An armed volunteer takes a cigarette break while guarding a Korean-American owned business during the third day of the Los Angeles Uprising in Koreatown. Photo:Reuters
Armed Korean-American volunteers guard California Market from approaching looters during the second day of the Los Angeles Uprising, in Koreatown
Armed Korean-American volunteers guard California Market from approaching looters during the second day of the Los Angeles Uprising, in Koreatown Photo:Reuters
Over 13,000 service members were deployed throughout L.A.
Over 13,000 service members were deployed throughout L.A. Photo:fragmentsweb
A California National Guardsman stands watch over a riot-torn area of South-Central Los Angeles April 30, 1992 on the second day of uprising after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King.
A California National Guardsman stands watch over a riot-torn area of South-Central Los Angeles April 30, 1992 on the second day of uprising after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. Photo:Reuters
55 people were killed during the rebellion, mostly by state security bodies and vigilantes.
55 people were killed during the rebellion, mostly by state security bodies and vigilantes. Photo:Reuters
Calls for community-centered reconstruction were paired with attempts to end the proliferation of drugs and alcohol.
Calls for community-centered reconstruction were paired with attempts to end the proliferation of drugs and alcohol. Photo:Community Coalition South LA
Published 28 April 2017
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