1992 La Riots

Essay 1992 Los Angeles riots:

The riots began with the violent arrest of Rodney King March 3, 1991, in a high-speed pursuit King drove through several red lights and stop signs; he pulled over in the Lake View Terrace.

King had a record for drunk driving but the officers involved testified that they believed him to be under the influence of the narcotic PCP, in a later blood test he was tested negative for PCP. A civilian named George Holliday recorded the whole arrest, the defendants also alleged that he resisted arrest and continued to resist even after being tasered, tackled, and struck with batons, although the video does not appear to corroborate many of these allegations. He is also alleged to have attempted to grab the weapon of one of the police officers at the scene, with that event allegedly occurring at the start of the altercation, and was not verifiable by the Holliday tape. The LAPD officers who beat King during the arrest didn't get convicted by the court, this triggered massive rioting in Los Angeles, which lasted for 4 days, making it one of the worst civil disturbances in Los Angeles history. Estimates of the number of lives lost during the unrest vary between 50 and 60, with as many as 2000 persons injured. Estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3600 fires were set, destroying 1100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points. About 10000 people were arrested. After the riots the pressure on the four police officers increased, two officers were found guilty and the other two were acquitted, later the four officers were either fired or quitted from the LAPD. After the riots King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil case, and used some of the money to start a hiphop music-label, King has been arrested at least eleven times on a variety of charges.

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