Rodney King, Latasha Harlins, and the Los Angeles Riots of 1992

The Los Angeles riots lasted six days, from April 29-May 4, 1992. During this time there were 63 deaths, 2300 injuries, 12,000 arrests and an estimated1,100 buildings were damaged resulting in 1 BILLION dollars in damages. The LA streets were rampaged with widespread arson, looting, assault, and vandalism by enraged members of LA’s South Central, Pico-Union and Koreatown communities while chanting “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE”.

The LA riots would become the most destructive period of unrest and uprising in modern U.S. history. An allegorical bomb had detonated but what was the catalyst? It was multi-faceted: the brutal assault of Rodney King, the acquittal of the 4 LAPD officers involved, the senseless murder of 15-year-old Latasha Harlins, and the ‘slap on the wrist’ sentence for her perpetrator. Arguably, the culmination of these incidents would finally tip the scales for these LA communities.

Listen to us talk about the heartbreaking facts around these two cases. Then stay with us as we weigh in on how and why the fine line between keeping a community safe and abuse of power is crossed. Finally, walk away with hope knowing that our nation has brilliant people and organizations that work towards reducing the social distance between law enforcement and civilians.

 

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​​Art for the podcast was created by Kelly Steen. Editing/Production for the podcast by Bltzwolff (bltzwolff@gmail.com).

​WILDCIDE Podcast and any content posted is presented solely for general informational, educational, and entertainment purposes. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professional, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.  

 

References:

Cannon, L. (2024, January 8). THE KING INCIDENT: MORE THAN MET THE EYE
ON VIDEOTAPE. Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1998/01/25/the-king-incident-more-than-met-the-eye-on-videotape/2248e35e-178b-47e9-a8db-0734f88b46e0/

Linder, D. (n.d.-a). An account of the Los Angeles Police Officers’
Trials(The Rodney King Beating Case).
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html

Linder, D. (n.d.-b). Famous Trials. UMKC School of Law. Retrieved
March 12, 2024, from https://www.famous-trials.com/lapd/579-keyfigures

Rich, F. (2015, May 18). Why do America’s race riots so precisely
mirror each other? Intelligencer.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/05/americas-race-riots.html

Schrader, S. (2019). Badges without Borders. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvp2n2kv

Want to Understand the 1992 LA Riots? Start with the 1984 LA Olympics
| The Nation. (2015, June 29). The Nation.
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/want-understand-1992-la-riots-start-1984-la-olympics/