The L.A. riots, 30 years later

Headlines From The Times

L.A. Times Studios

News, Daily News, Society & Culture, The Times, California

4.1 • 544 Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

April 29, 1992, was the start of the L.A. riots, one of the most destructive civil disturbances in American history. We begin a two-part special today with a look back at what led up to it — and what lessons we should have learned.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Quick warning, the N-word is used in archival tape in this episode.
0:04.7	April 29, 1992.
0:08.5	A date that forever changed Los Angeles.
0:12.0	Rodney King says at least one police officer called him a nigger just after he was kicked in the head while on the ground.
0:18.0	Six days of chaos erupted after the acquittal of four police officers in the beating of Rodney
0:22.4	King, an unarmed black motorist.
0:24.8	King said he had been asked sarcastically, how do you feel after being kicked?
0:29.0	King said he replied by half coughing out the blood in his mouth.
0:32.6	Then King said, a police officer said, we're going to kill you, nigger, run.
0:37.0	King said that remark was the only reason he did get up and try to run.
0:40.8	But he said he was instantly hit in the head with a baton and went down again.
0:44.8	King said officers then taunted him by saying, killer, killer, how do you feel, killer while they hit him?
0:53.2	I'm Gustavaryano.
0:54.7	You're listening to The Times, daily news from the LA Times.
0:58.6	It's Thursday, April 28, 2022.
1:01.8	This is the first of two episodes on the 30th anniversary of the LA riots.
1:05.8	Today, black, Latino, and Asian communities reflect on the uprising,
1:09.8	and we also discuss a racial reckoning
1:11.7	in the L.A. Times newsroom that happened in the riots aftermath. Joining me today are my fellow
1:18.3	L.A. Times columnist Sandy Banks and Frank Schong, welcome to the both of you. Thank you. Thank you.
1:23.2	Sandy, I want to start with you because you covered the riots in real time. But before we get to what happened, it's important to remember what were the issues leading up to April 29th, especially with the black community.
1:35.3	Yeah, you're right, Gustavo. It was a very different time from now. Crime was out of control in South L.A. We had crack cocaine. We had a lot of gangs and drugs. There was a lot of tension
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from L.A. Times Studios, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of L.A. Times Studios and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.