NCJ Number
136623
Journal
Newsweek Dated: (May 11, 1992) Pages: 29-55
Date Published
1992
Length
27 pages
Annotation
The April 1992 acquittal of four Los Angeles policemen, accused of beating a black motorist 56 times, sparked widespread riots and looting in that city. Unlike riots that occurred in Los Angeles in the 1960's, these seemed to occur along class, rather than strictly racial, lines with Hispanics and whites participating alongside blacks.
Abstract
The policemen were acquitted despite evidence that included an 81-second long videotape of the beating, filmed by a witness. The trial and its verdict let loose long-standing tensions in the inner city and a large majority of Americans agreed that the verdict was not justified. Over 75 percent of those polled felt that the Federal government should reopen the case under U.S. civil rights laws. This special report chronicles the riots; discusses the defense strategy particularly in terms of the videotape; offers an excerpt from Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gate's new book; and analyzes the role of TV, California's politics of fear, and the cumulative effect of the government's neglect of the urban poor.