July 23, 2019 ▸ History, Places

Episode 405: LA Riots: Race, Rodney, and Revolution

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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we participate in some civil unrest and look at the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. They were often called the Rodney King Riots since they were sparked by the verdict of the Rodney King beating trial. In the course of five days, 63 people were killed, 2,383 were injured, 3600 fires were lit (destroying 1100 buildings), and over 12,000 arrests were made.

To begin understanding the riots, you must understand LA at the time. It is especially important to understand South Central LA and the lives of black citizens. The LAPD at the time was one of the most racist in the nation, led by the horrible Chief Daryl Gates. Racial profiling was at an all-time high, hundreds of formal police brutality reports were filed by blacks each year, and nothing was ever done about it. Black Los Angelinos were afraid of the cops, which is one reason NWA became some popular with people like Eazy-E living this very life and rapping about it.

In the middle of a decade of police violence, one man, Rodney King was pulled over for drunk driving. He resisted arrest and tried to run, and the police finally caught him. And beat him. Badly. They think he was hit by police batons over 60 times and tazed at least three. One bystander, George Holiday, happened to catch this all on film at a time where video cameras weren’t ubiquitous, so things like this seldom got reported. Within a few days, the tape made its hands into the media, and it was a national sensation. King sustained severe injuries (but not as bad as you’d think if you watch the film HERE).

The cops involved were tried for various crimes, and several months later, they pretty much all got off scot-free. That was the fuse that lit the powder keg, and LA went up in flames. The LA Riots were small groups at first, but after a controversial speech on TV about the trial, Mayor Bradley of LA made things worse.

By the end of the day, there was burning and looting. By day two, people were being snatched from their trucks and being beaten to death. By day three, the police abandoned the 150 blocks that made up Korea Town, and it became a war zone. Eventually, somewhere around 16,000 troops were sent in to quell things at the end of day 4, and by day 5 order was restored. All in all, the LA riots cost an estimated billion dollars in property damage and changed the face of LA.

Many people say this burst of violence was needed because it cleaned up the LAPD and made things better for blacks in South Central. Others were killed in the riots and don’t say much of anything anymore. Be it a mass movement for justice or a bunch of folks trying to come up on a new TV, this was an event that helped shape the 90s and was to presage the Black Lives Matter movement and all of the issues we face currently race relations and police actions.

Great Article with Great Photos: https://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/524744989/when-la-erupted-in-anger-a-look-back-at-the-rodney-king-riots

FBI Version of the Rodney King Beating Video: https://vault.fbi.gov/rodney-king/video/rodney-king-video