"I am incapable of devoting myself quietly to creative
work while blood is flowing and everything is calling me to battle. I want
to burn with the spirit of the times. I want all servants of the stage to
recognize their lofty destiny.
I
am disturbed at my comrades' failure to raise above narrow caste interests
which are alien to the interests of society at large. Yes, the theatre can play an enormous part in the
transformation of the whole of existence."
-Vsevolod Meyerhold
1901
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Chronology of Events in
THE L.A. RIOTS
"Riots are the voice of
the unheard."
--Martin Luther King, Jr.
1965
AUG
11-15: The “Watts Riots” sweep through Los Angeles leaving 34 dead,
1,032 injured, and 3,952 arrests. Over
$40 million in damages, over 1,000 buildings destroyed.
1968
FEB 29: The “Kerner Commission” publishes it’s report stating
that the main cause of urban disturbance is white racism.
It calls for new jobs programs, new housing programs, and an end to
the de-facto segregation of American society.
1991
 MAR
3: Los Angeles Police officers beat and arrest Rodney G. King.
George Holliday, a resident of a nearby apartment, captures the
beating on videotape.
MAR
6: Police Chief Daryl F. Gates calls beating an “aberration.”
Community leaders call for Gates’ resignation.
MAR
7: Rodney King is released after the district attorney’s office finds
there is insufficient evidence to file criminal charges.
MAR
15: Sergeant Stacey C. Koon and Officers Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E.
Wind, and Theodore J. Briseno – are arraigned on felony charges for the
beating of Rodney King.
MAR
16: A store security camera records the fatal shooting of 15-year-old
African-American girl Latasha Harlins by Korean-American Store Owner Soon
Ja Du in a South L.A. liquor store.
MAY
10: A grand jury decides not to indict any of the 19 officers who were
bystanders at the Rodney King beating.
NOV
15: After being found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, Soon Ja Du is
sentenced to 5 years probation and a $500 fine for the killing of Latasha
Harlins – a lighter sentence than one would receive for killing a dog
under California State Law.
NOV
26 : Judge Stanley M. Weisberg chooses the predominantly white town of
Simi Valley as the new venue for the trial of the officers charged in the
King beating.
1992
MAR 4: Opening arguments begin in the Rodney King beating trial.
None of the 12 jurors selected are African-American.
 APR
29: The jury returns not-guilty verdicts on all charges except one count
of excessive force against Officer Powell.
Violence erupts in South Central L.A. and spreads in an ever-widening
radius. Fires break out in
over 25 blocks. Reginald
Denny is pulled from his truck and beaten unconscious at the intersection
of Florence & Normandie. Governor
Wilson calls out the National Guard
APR
30: Mayor Bradley imposes a curfew on the entire City.
Retail outlets looted and/or burned in South L.A., Koreatown,
Hollywood, Mid-Wilshire, Watts, Westwood, Beverly Hills, Compton,
Culver City, Hawthorne, Long Beach, and Pomona.
MAY
1: Over 1,000 Korean-Americans & others gather at a peace rally at
Western Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.
MAY
2: Clean-up crews hit the streets and volunteers truck food and
clothing in the hardest hit neighborhoods.
30,000 march through Koreatown in support of merchants calling
for peace between Korean-Americans and Blacks.
President George Bush declares Los Angeles a disaster area.
MAY
3: The Los Angeles Times reports 58 deaths; 2,383 injuries;
over 7,000 fire responses; 12,111 arrests; 3,100 businesses damaged in
the course of the Riots.
MAY
4: With National Guardsmen patrolling the streets, Los Angeles
residents begin to return to work and school.
24,000 have been put out of work because their places of business were
looted and/or burned.
In violation of policy, LAPD turns over illegal immigrants arrested
for riot-related crimes to the INS for probable deportation.
 MAY
8: Federal troops begin to pull out from L.A.
The Crips and Bloods (2 major L.A. gangs) announce plans for a
truce.
MAY
12: Damian Williams, Antoine Miller, and Henry K. Watson are arrested
for the Apr 29 beating of Reginald Denny.
Gary Williams surrenders to police later that day.
They quickly become known as “The
L.A. Four.”
MAY
16: Tens of thousands demonstrate in Washington, D.C., demanding
billions in federal dollars for urban aid.
MAY
25: Korean grocers and leaders from the Bloods and Crips meet to
discuss forming an alliance.
DEC
14: The “Free the L.A. Four Defense Committee” leads
demonstrations at the site of the Reginald Denny beating.
1993
 JAN
22: Superior Court Judge John W. Ouderkirk dismisses 10 charges
against the “L.A. Four” including torture and aggravated
mayhem. The charges of
attempted murder still stand.
FEB
3: The federal civil rights trial against the 4 Officers of the Rodney
King beating begins.
APR
17: Verdicts are returned in the civil trial.
Officers Briseno and Wind are acquitted.
Officer Powell and Sergeant Koon are found guilty of violating
Rodney King’s civil rights – both are later sentenced to 30 months
in prison.
DEC
7: L.A. Four defendant Damian Williams sentenced to a maximum of 10
years in prison for the attacks on Reginal Denny.
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