There was a nationwide recession. Unemployment led to poverty. A beating. A verdict. Protesting. Looting. Police were called. Then, the National Guard. Buildings destroyed. Lives shattered. 53 dead.
The year was 1992.
Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library
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Wow. I remember this was the first event to make me think I wanted to be the one on the front lines witnessing what would become history.
Dude, the anniversary’s only 4 days away, surely you could have waited to put this out on Tuesday.
Well with those cops getting acquitted this morning in New York for killing that unarmed man on his bachelor night – I have a bad feeling that history once again might be repeating itself in the near future.
Jesus, this brings back unwelcome memories. I’d forgotten that the death toll was so high.
Arakne, I think cooler heads will prevail in NYC.
Man, that pic looks like it’s from the 1965 version. I grew up on
118th and Avalon, I remember it like it was yesterday. I told a friend
of mine at work the day the verdicts came down, "L.A.’s gonna burn tonight" I was just joking, I had no Ideal.
I was 7 and lived in the middle of Koreatown then. It was the first news event I remember. I spent all those days glued to the TV set watching the footage and could see thick smoke from my bedroom window (I was close to Vermont, near Wilshire).
I remember the day well. Very strange to go out to lunch and come back to our office by the Van Nuys Airport and watch National Guard copters and planes arriving. Shortly there after told to avoid the 405-101 intersection as there was a sniper reported.
From our place in the valley we could see "over the hill" the glow from the fires".
The next day a tank was at Valley Plaza in the old May Co store lot. My office was closed. My wife went to work in the morning at her office in Pan City by the old mall and was home by 9AM as it was trashed during the night and then it was closed for the duration.
We left that afternoon to go to Vegas and visit my folks for a few days.
A couple of weeks later we were at Venice Beach and bought our commemorative t-shirts. "I survived the LA Riots" with the cartoon of a looter running with a TV on his shoulder.
Bad times.