Rodney King Los Angeles Riots

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The Rodney King Beating and Los Angeles Riots

What if you lived in a time period where every time you saw the police you are overcome with fear and anxiety. This is how it was and still is for many minorities. Picture yourself driving home after a long day, you made few stops and had a couple of drinks with some friends, but felt you were okay to drive. Imagine being a couple blocks away from home and all of sudden you see a flicker of red and blue lights in your rearview mirror. Your heart is pounding, your hands are sweaty, and you have a million thoughts going through your head, you become overwhelmed with thoughts; Am I going to be another statistic, will they shoot me if I reach for my wallet, and the list goes on. As an act of fear, …show more content…
Even after listening to them, they constantly kicked and hit him with batons. He constantly tried to get up and escape after he was on the floor. The beating was so severe that Rodney King was actually unrecognized by his wife the next day. What people do not know is there were 12 other officers just by standing watching the beating. This is a bad look for the whole LAPD as they should be trained to handle these kinds of situations. This was not the first time someone of another race was acted down upon as it was said that “this happens all the time but wa finally caught on camera.” Thankfully, the whole attack which was exactly 81 seconds was caught by plumber George Holliday while testing his new camera on his balcony. He aimed his camera at the arrest scene across the street near him and photographed all of the 56 blows which was then sent to KTLA a news station that went viral …show more content…
In the courtroom, 10 of the jurors were white, 1 Asian, and one Latino. There were no black men in the room but Rodney King and on top of that no women. Within hours of the officers announced innocent, massive riots erupted in South Central LA in 1992 that spread quickly. The areas rage would last three whole days as every day it seemed to get worse. These were no ordinary protests or riots you see. These riots were extremely dangerous and illegal. Many gangs around the area joined forces to rebel against the LAPD. The racial tension had been building for decades and when the officers were announced innocent it was compared to a “ticking time bomb” as people were “ready to die” for racial equality. If you were not black or African, you would have to prepare to defend yourself with your life as you would be beat brutally and even killed if you were not. Once police fled the area of South Central it made the rioters feel like they had power. They felt in control which gave them more power and urge to be wild. Innocent people who were once immigrants had started their own businesses, stores, and homes in LA that had been torn down due to the riots. They were ruined by being burned, smashed, looted, and even some owners killed. Once they reached out to the police they had one response which was “if you have a firearm, defend yourself”. Once given permission they did exactly
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