10 Years Since The LA Riots

And then we went home and watched the riots and the looting and the anarchy on television, and felt really small.

It was the last demonstration I ever attended.

Ironically, the second to last demonstration was protesting Bush's war on Iraq. How some things DON'T change in ten years...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,689486,00.html

20th anniversary of "Can't we just get along?" just came up on @RealTimeLARiots

@RealTimeLARiots is generally really amazing

Any other ILXors around LA for the riots? I can't be the only one!

my friend (korean dude) was telling me a story about how his mom who was running a liquor store at the time was one of the few shop owners to get helicoptered out

I thought this was a good piece

http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archive/2012/04/rodney-king-redux

I was at UC Irvine at the time. My former roommate who had moved to L.A. the year before called me, sounding very annoyed, asked if he could crash here again because "this marshal law shit was just a bunch of bullshit, man."

What I remember more was the conversation I had at KUCI the day before. A guy named Scott brought up the trial, and said, "If those cops are acquitted, there are gonna be riots." He wasn't the only one who saw this coming.

Many were surprised by how surprised the LAPD were, in fact. It was pretty fucking awful to watch on TV. Surely much worse for anyone at USC, as one example, which was pretty close to ground zero. LAPD Chief Daryl Gates dismissed the riots *right after they started* to go a fundraiser to fight an amendment to limit his own power as chief.

One of the few silver linings was that it finally forced Daryl Fucking Gates to resign at long last.

Any other ILXors around LA for the riots? I can't be the only one!

I was inland. It was, weirdly, the first night that my band played our own headlining show. The show went on forever, the ten or so people in the room were very keen to avoid the weird ass vibe on campus, where nothing was going down but everything felt fucked up. I have tape of it, actually.

that Hyphen magazine piece is fantastic. thanks for the link dayo.

Rodney King has died, found at the bottom of a swimming pool. Always hated how people turned "Can't we all just get along?" into a punch line. 47 years old.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/17/rodney-king-dead/

Rodney King -- the man who was at the center of the infamous Los Angeles riots -- was found dead this morning in Rialito, CA. He was 47.

According to our sources, King's fiancée found him dead at the bottom of a pool.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they responded to a call at 5:25 AM PT. We're told they physically removed King from the pool and attempted CPR.

Our sources say he was pronounced dead at 6:11 AM.

Law enforcement sources say Rialto PD will open a drowning investigation.

dnr the bbc news comments page on this..

good advice for any site, I think

wow. RIP. dude had it rough.

King became a symbol for police brutality and the troubled relations between the LAPD and minority residents. He was eventually awarded a $3.8-million settlement, but the money and fame brought him little solace. He had repeated run-ins with the law and as of April said he was broke.

"I sometimes feel like I'm caught in a vise. Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero," he told The Times earlier this year. "Others hate me. They say I deserved it. Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace."

RIP, big guy, but you were a trouble magnet. Alcohol...

Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace.

really sad to me.

Such a strange, sad, depressing thing to happen.

very sad.

oh man i didn't know.

dnr the bbc news comments page on this..

― Mark G, Sunday, 17 June 2012 16:04 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

good advice for any site, I think

― Julie Derpy (Phil D.), Sunday, 17 June 2012 16:11 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

True, but the BBC one is usually a set of reasonable...

its full of have your say right wing nutters

I got to meet him a few weeks ago, he was extremely friendly. This sounds naive but I hadn't had any idea of what his life had been like after the beating so this is deeply sad. RIP.

I heard about his passing this morning on NPR and it made me genuinely verklemt.

that sounds painful

yet another one of Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab patients, why does that guy even have a career

people have a hunger for expert judgement... of somebody else.

Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace.

it's pretty sad how he caught it from all quarters for such a quote, like literally everyone seemed to have a go at clowning him for this. seemed to be a particularly decent man who had a few weaknesses, like all of us do.

otm

I think of that line as being "widely quoted" rather than "widely mocked" but I guess I have selective memory on that

obviously when something becomes so ubiquitous it read as a joke but I guess I didn't realize so many people knocked the idea behind the original quote

meant to say, when something becomes so ubiquitous in the culture, it reads as a joke

i remember lots of mock-crying "why can't we all just get along, boo hoo hoo" kinda jokes from that time period plus iirc plenty of people railed against his sentiment for being weakly worded or something or worse yet, accused him of being insincere.

Willie D had a straight-up Rodney King dis track in response to "can't we all just get along"

I actually think it's perfectly judged.

"Get along" as opposed to like or love each other.

Yeah it's a joke. Didn't it pop up in Naked Gun and similar movies as a punchline?

seemed to be a particularly decent man who had a few weaknesses,

Operating a motor vehicle in particular.

but yeah, for people to TOLERATE each other wouldn't seem to be an unreasonable request.

RIP