*On April 29, 1992, despite video evidence that clearly showed unarmed African-American motorist Rodney King being beaten by four white police officers, Simi Valley's nearly all-white jury acquitted the four of assault. Los Angeles citizens, already fed up with such cases of police abuseof power, reacted to the verdict with violent anger. Protestors gathered at police headquarters and at city hall, where Mayor Tom Bradley erected a command post in the basement. The situation quickly escalated to riot proportions.
For 48 hours, Los Angeles burned. Roving gangs set fires and attacked motorists in South Central Los Angeles and beyond. Race hatred flared as black and latino looters gutted stores owned by Korean-Americans, who responded by shooting at passerby. More than 3,700 fires raged out of control in what was termed the worst U.S. civil disturbance in over 100 years. On May 1st, with police unable to stop the riot, 4,000 California National Guards were called in and President Bush offered aid for 6,500 federal troops.
Throughout the uprising, news helicopters fed scenes of violence to television sets nationwide, sparking similar, smaller riots in other cities. Video clips of whites and Korean-Americans shooting at blacks aired for a while, but were soon replaced by images of blacks and latinos attacking whites and looting stores. With the death toll at 40, Rodney King went on television, where he pleaded for an end to the violence, asking, "Can we all get along?" Still the unrest continued, until 53 had died, most of them people of colour. Control was ebentually reestablished, yet parts of the city lay in ruins, and in the end L.A. Police Chief Daryl Gates was forced to resign. *Source: Card Back