The L.A. Riots | 6. No Peace
Slow Burn
Slate Audio
4.6 • 25.2K Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2021
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In March 1991, Black people in Los Angeles had seen the videotape of Rodney King being beaten. In November, they’d seen Soon Ja Du sentenced to probation for killing 15-year-old Latasha Harlins. On April 29, 1992, a jury failed to convict the officers who beat King. That was the last straw.
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Season 6 of Slow Burn is produced by Joel Anderson, Jayson De Leon, Ethan Brooks, Sophie Summergrad, and Jasmine Ellis.
Mixing by Merritt Jacob.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | A quick warning. This episode has some explicit language. |
| 0:06.0 | On the afternoon of April 29, 1992, Tim Goldman was running errands with his best friend. |
| 0:12.6 | It was a mostly clear balmy day, the kind Los Angeles is known for. First, they went downtown |
| 0:19.1 | to sell one of Goldman's cameras and grabbed some lunch. |
| 0:22.4 | After that, they drove to Gardena to help another friend move a few things with their truck. |
| 0:27.4 | You know, we're not listening to the news. |
| 0:29.2 | We're jamming music and having a good time, just riding in the truck. |
| 0:32.9 | When they arrived at the friend's house, they could tell something was wrong. |
| 0:37.1 | I got going, and I'm like, hey, what's up? Everybody looking all sad. And I'm like, |
| 0:40.7 | what are those sad faces? And what's going on? |
| 0:45.9 | Goldman and his friend had missed some very big news. And they said, them cops, |
| 0:50.7 | them cops got off. And my stomach, man, just like, I was stunned. |
| 0:55.9 | Tim Wind, innocent of all charges. |
| 0:58.9 | Ted Brissino, innocent of all charges. |
| 1:01.9 | Stacey Coom, innocent of all charges. |
| 1:04.1 | And Lawrence Powell, innocent of all charges but one. |
| 1:07.8 | And the jury deadlocked on that one. |
| 1:11.6 | Goldman was astonished. In the months leading up to the trial, he'd watched George |
| 1:16.3 | Holliday's videotape over and over again. He felt certain that the officers who beat Rodney |
| 1:21.7 | King were going to be punished for what they'd done. |
| 1:24.1 | One of the neighbors down the street, Mr. Young, and you know, I was talking to him one morning. I was like, you know, I think the verdict's going to come out today. And he said, nothing going to happen to them cops. I'm like, no, Mr. Young, they got caught on tape. They go into jail. He was like, there's nothing going to happen to them cops. That older man had been right. |
| 1:46.4 | Nothing did happen to those police officers. |
... |
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