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History Daily

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

History Daily

Airship | Noiser | Wondery

History

4.42.1K Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2025

⏱️ 22 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

April 29, 1992. A jury acquits four police officers in the beating of Black motorist Rodney King, sparking six days of violence and unrest in Los Angeles. This episode originally aired in 2022.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:04.1

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0:06.0

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0:10.5

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0:17.0

A listener note, this episode contains descriptions of violence and may not be suitable for all audiences.

0:31.1

It's just before 1 a.m. on March 3, 1991.

0:35.8

At their apartment in the San Fernando Valley, George and Maria Holiday wake to an

0:40.3

unfamiliar sound. George tries to shut out the noise and fall back asleep, but the sound only gets

0:46.4

louder, and soon it's accompanied by police sirens. George and Maria get out of bed and walk to

0:52.8

their balcony to investigate the source of the commotion.

0:56.1

Outside on the street below, George spots a parked white Hyundai.

1:00.5

He watches his police cars surround the vehicle which is illuminated by a helicopter spotlight.

1:05.9

Soon, four officers approach the car.

1:08.7

Instinctively, George runs back inside to grab his brand new video camera.

1:13.9

He rushes back to the balcony and presses record just in time to capture one of the police

1:18.7

officers striking the Hyundai's driver, a young black man across the side of his head.

1:24.6

George watches as a young man falls to the ground and the four officers

1:28.3

surrounding. While George looks on in films, dozens of police officers also watch from the

1:34.5

perimeter as the young black man is kicked, stomped, and struck 56 times before then being

1:40.3

hog-tied and dragged to the side of the road to wait for an ambulance.

1:50.7

The driver of the Hyundai, shown in George's video, will soon be identified as 25-year-old Rodney King. In the early morning of March 3, 1991, he was caught speeding on a Los Angeles

1:57.0

freeway. But he didn't pull over, fearing that his probation for a robbery offense

...

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