"Murray:" "Who will protect us from our protectors?" "That is the question of America." "Put your hands up!" "Put your hands up!" "Hands up!" "Hands up!" "[ Gunshots ]" "Man:" "Say, "I am..."" "Crowd:" "I am..." ""...a human being!"" "...a human being!" ""I am..." I am..." ""...a human being!" ...a human being!" "Murray:" "It's about justice..." "No peace!" "No justice!" "No peace!" "Murray: ...equity." "Put your hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Murray: ...fairness." "Martin:" "We want an arrest." "We wanted a conviction." "Moulin:" "I look at the conditions across our country right now, and I'm thinking," ""We certainly didn't learn much in the last 25 years."" "More futures." "More futures." "Less killings." "Less killings." "Watson:" "We tired of looking at that [bleep] on television." "Garner:" "I can't breathe!" "Every day." "Olmos:" "There's an outcry, an outpouring of discrimination and prejudice systems that just motivates people to rebel against it." "Crowd: [Bleep] you!" "[Bleep] you!" "[Bleep] you!" "♪♪" "Murray:" "The poet Langston Hughes asked the great question," ""What happens to a dream deferred, a dream put on hold?" "Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" "Or does it explode?"" "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "♪♪" "History shows a dream that is turned into a nightmare -- explodes." "Woman:" "A state of emergency has been declared in Los Angeles County." "[ Crowd chanting "Guilty!" ]" "Man:" "It's a very tense situation." "Man #2:" "National Guardsmen now are being deployed to neighborhoods." "[ Siren walls ] We have fires burning out of control." "Brokaw:" "In a citywide curfew." "Looting and street violence continue." "Rage and violence." "Woman:" "National Guard troops shot and killed a man." "Man #3:" "This place is getting totally insane." "Tur:" "This is attempted murder." "51 people are now known dead in the rioting in Los Angeles." "No!" "Woman #2:" "President Bush declared Los Angeles a disaster area." "Woman:" "The city's racial turmoil is America's worst..." "Brokaw:" "The Rodney King beating and the verdict." "Woman #3:" "The nation's bloodiest civil unrest in 75 years." "Can we all get along?" "People are tired of suffering at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department." "Tonight, I want to talk to you about violence in our cities and justice for our citizens." "[ Alarm tone ringing ]" "This is the activation of the Emergency Broadcast System for L.A. County." "♪♪" "[ Brakes squeal in distance ]" "Rodney:" "I had some fellas with me, and we decided to hop on the freeway." "I seen the highway patrol car on the 210 just as I was coming over those hills." "I know I'm drinking, so I cannot afford to get pulled over." "And I'm on parole." "And I'm black." "But the helicopter -- [ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Once the helicopter's on you, there's nothing you could do." "I was already speeding." "Either I'm gonna get killed, or I'm gonna just get beat." "And they pulled up on the side of me, he said," ""Pull the [bleep] over!" And I could read his lips." "He said, "I'ma beat your ass." "I'ma beat your ass."" "So what I wanted to do was make sure" "I was in front of some apartment buildings or anywhere where some people would come out and see." "[ Whirring continues ]" "Holliday:" "Suddenly, we got awakened by the huge noise of all the police cars and sirens outside our window here and the helicopter." "Picked up my camera, and then I walked out towards the balcony." "♪♪" "I didn't realize what was going on across the street until the camera actually focused, and then I saw that there was a beating going on." "You could hear people yelling across the street." "I-I don't know if the yells were coming from Rodney King or the police officers." "They did sound more like commands." "And a couple of times, you could actually hear the -- the baton." "But the helicopter was real low, so it was very loud, just spinning all around here." "[ Whirring continues ]" "My wife came out next to me on the balcony." "In our minds, we're thinking," ""What did he do to deserve this?"" "These are police officers, and they are trained to have restraint." "♪♪" "Rodney:" "It just went on so long, like a slave beating." "♪♪" "Holliday:" "We were recently arrived from Argentina." "It's " " It's a different culture over there." "The impression that one gets of the United States without living here is what you see in the movies." "It's " " It's different, what you see in the movies and what's really happening here in this country." "And I did not think this was normal, especially here in America." "The next day, my wife at the time " "We started talking about it, and we wanted to know what had happened and why it happened." "So we called the local news station, Channel 5." "Even the news department didn't think it was that big of a deal, but they said, "We'd like to interview you." "We'd like to show this tape on the news tonight."" "The incident was videotaped by an amateur cameraman from a nearby apartment." "They didn't show it till the second segment of the news." "George Holliday..." "Holliday:" "But as soon as it went on the air, my name and city were at the bottom." ""Filmed by George Holliday, Lake View Terrace."" "And my phone just started ringing off the hook as soon as it went on the air." "And it was all the other news stations." "Everybody wanted a copy of it." "♪♪" "Singleton:" "There had always been tension with LAPD going back even before the Watts riots." "In the early '90s, it was madness because there was no rapport between the people who were supposed to be protecting the citizens and the citizens themselves." "We just looked at them as an occupying force." "Winters:" "At the age of 17, I remember the police beating the [bleep] out of me." "As far as Rodney King getting beat, you know the first thing I said?" ""This is something what happens every day." "They just caught it on videotape."" "Singleton:" "When everything hit with Rodney King, for the first time ever, we saw what we always knew -- brothers were being lynched by the LAPD sight unseen over and over again." "But now it was on camera." "In Southern California tonight, white policemen and black motorists are at the center of two explosive cases." "Man:" "A black man, whose car had been stopped by Los Angeles police officers, was in the street." "You know, this is a man that didn't deserve to be -- be assaulted the way he was." "And it was so apparent when you saw that tape, there was something going on much more than trying to subdue a possible suspect." "What was going on was totally outside the realm of the law." "♪♪" "Watson:" "Everybody " " Everybody is watching the tape." "We in the black community know about those ass-whuppings." "They've been going on." "The mere fact that Rodney King beating was actually caught on tape was the only thing groundbreaking or isolated about that incident." "We thought that that videotape was gonna make a difference 25 years ago." "Murray:" "We had been watching the video over and over." "Los Angeles was not a stranger to civil unrest." "And we feared people getting out of control again." "Woman:" "In Los Angeles, the case of four policemen charged in the beating of a black motorist is still being bogged down in legal maneuvering." "Thursday, an appeals court ordered the trial to be held in a different location." "The court selects the County of Ventura as the venue for the trial of this case." "Lerman:" "Simi Valley is very conservative." "There's a lot of nice people up there." "It's predominantly white." "We have the Reagan Library." "Now we got the big trial." "We're hot stuff now." "[ Chuckles ]" "Lerman:" "I was concerned the panel of jurors that would be hearing the criminal case would be biased in favor of the police." "There's a great deal of LAPD officers and police officers of various stripes living in the Simi Valley area." "Watson:" "We in South Central " "We didn't know where the [bleep] Simi Valley was." "We had to look that up." "Man:" "We've only been open a short time, and this is the first criminal jury trial that we've had here." "Woman:" "The defense hopes that the change of venue from L.A. to the suburb of Simi Valley will make it easier to find unbiased jurors." "But critics of the police point out that unlike L.A.," "Simi Valley is a predominantly white community that is home to hundreds of law enforcement officials." "Brokaw:" "The four Los Angeles police officers who appeared in that videotape of the Rodney King beating went on trial today." "Man:" "Jury selection was completed Monday with the seating of 12 jurors and 6 alternates." "Not a single black person on the panel -- one Latino, one Asian, all the rest white." "All four officers charged in the case are white." "The victim, Rodney King, is black." "I think that if the public watches this trial, that they will have the impression that justice is done." "Man:" "It was a view not shared by everyone, especially victim Rodney King's mother-in-law." "I don't think he'll get a fair trial." "I think it should be some blacks on there." "[ Speaks indistinctly ]" "Singleton:" "I was 24 years old, nominated for two Oscars, one for Best Director, one for Best Original Screenplay for "Boyz n the Hood."" "I've always had, you know, a strong foothold in the black community here in Los Angeles." "And early '92, we were shooting "Poetic Justice,"" "starring Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur in Simi Valley." "We're on our way out there, anyway, right, and we hear on KFW radio that the verdicts are coming down for the police that were implicated in Rodney King's beating." "And I tell my bodyguard Shorty, "[Bleep] this movie." "We got to get to the courthouse."" "Male attorney:" "This videotape's the most objective piece of evidence you can have." "Without that videotape, we wouldn't be here." "These are not Robocops, ladies and gentlemen." "They hurt, they feel pain, they bleed, and they die, just like everyone else." "Woman:" "What is the mood right now?" "Are there fears that there may be some kind of violence, depending on the way the verdict goes?" "This is the man, and look at him!" "This man laughed." "Your Honor " "This man taunted." "There has been so much pent-up outrage." "There was a lot of concern when this trial was moved from Los Angeles out here to Ventura County, a much more conservative, predominantly white county." "They don't get paid to roll around in the dirt with the likes of Rodney Glenn King." "He says, "I haven't beaten anyone this bad in a long time."" "Ladies and gentlemen, that's as close as you're gonna get to a confession in this case." "As you can imagine, everybody right now is waiting anxiously to hear." "I'm told that we have the courtroom verdict, so we will go live there." "The jury has reached a verdict." "Jury foreman:" "We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendants Timothy E. Wind," "Theodore J. Briseno," "Stacey C. Koon," "Laurence M. Powell not guilty of the crime of assault by force likely to produce great bodily injury and with a deadly weapon." "[ People shouting ]" "[Bleep]" "You got to be kidding!" "Lerman:" "When I found out what the verdict was," "I called Rodney and I said, "It's unbelievable." "These cops are gonna walk."" "It was a bitter pill to swallow." "Woman:" "King is seen reacting to the acquittals of the officers." "That son of a [bleep]" "Murray:" "This is a brutalization of truth." "That's the tragedy of America." "Woman:" "Officer Powell, if you could have a few words with Rodney King right now, what would you say to him?" "I wouldn't." "[ Laughs ]" "Good " " Good answer." "It is what America does not want to confront." "It is racism pure and simple." "[ People shouting ]" "Today, this jury told the world that what we all saw with our own eyes wasn't a crime." "Watson:" "The whole community felt it." "Everyone else was in just as much shock and disbelief as I was." "Couldn't believe what they saw, as well." "Well, I know I'm innocent, and that was the verdict." "It makes me wonder what a black life is actually worth nowadays." "The press comes up to me." "Man:" "John, how do you feel about the verdict?" "I feel the verdict's bull[bleep]" "I was gonna say something that was gonna be very, very incendiary, and it was gonna be talking to all the Bloods and Crips in L.A." "And I didn't say that." "By making this verdict, you know what they've done?" "I would not want to be an L.A. police officer at this time." "Thattaboy, Stacey!" "He's cheering them on, man." "There ain't no cheering here." "I'm scared to death because I know the rage." "You think we gonna just continue to, like, turn our cheek?" "Listen, all this stuff -- It's just like a bomb." "It's a bomb." "We're sitting on a bomb." "Police want to get violent with us?" "We'll get violent with them because I'm ready to die." "Woman:" "You're guilty!" "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "[ People shouting ]" "♪♪" "[ Siren walls ]" "[ Horn honks ]" "♪♪" "Jury foreman:" "We, the jury, in the above entitled action, find the defendants not guilty of the crime of assault." "[ People shouting angrily ]" "[Bleep]" "You got to be kidding!" "[ Shouting continues ]" "We have to police our own neighborhoods, our own communities." "People are tired of suffering at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department." "Man:" "If the police want to get violent with us..." "Moore:" "I'm scared to death because I know the rage." "...we'll get violent with them..." "I know the anger." "...because I'm ready to die." "And I know exactly what my people are feeling." "Man #2:" "I would not want to be an L.A. police officer at this time." "Goldman:" "Earlier that day, we were helping someone move, and they said, "Well, them officers got acquitted."" "My heart just fell to my stomach." "I was like, "You -- You got to be kidding."" "♪♪" "Ellis:" "You can feel our frustration, man." "You can just feel pain." "You can feel it." "Moulin:" "When I went to work," "I started asking around, "Okay, well, what's the plan?" "What are we gonna do when the jury brings their verdict in?"" "The mood of the department was they've talked to all the community leaders." "They're confident it's gonna be peaceful, et cetera, et cetera, which, from my perspective, as a patrol lieutenant," "I just " " I found that incredibly hard to believe because whether they find the officers guilty or whether they find the officers innocent," "I can't believe there's not gonna be some type of civil unrest." "Absolutely no special notices, training, or anything." "Nothing." "And to this day," "I just can't imagine why no one did anything." "Gates:" "In the aftermath of whatever the jury decides," "I think we need to look at ourselves and look at what it is that we do, what our particular job is." "♪♪" "Murray:" "Daryl Gates was Chief of Police." "And his mentor was a very conservative Chief of Police." "And he seemed to have the legacy," ""White is right." "If you're black, get back."" "It was a time of struggle with police power." "Lerman:" "Daryl Gates was really a product of the Parker administration." "Chief Parker had been the Chief of Police in the '50s, early '60s." "And essentially, the police department was run more or less as an army." "Stop and frisk, find people that might be committing crime, find people that look like they should be questioned." "A lot of the tactics that were employed by the police were violative of constitutional safeguards against unreasonable search and seizure." "I will tell you, though," "I got a phone call from Daryl Gates, and he wanted to talk to Rodney King." "He said, "I'd like to be able to talk to him and give him my apologies."" "And I took the phone away and I said," ""The chief is on the phone." "What " " What do you " "Would you want to talk to him?"" "He said, "Tell him to suck my [bleep]"" "I'm like..." ""Well, Chief, he's unavailable right now, but I'm sure he'll appreciate your well wishes."" "Tur:" "Daryl Gates was an amazing leader." "He was a great cop, and he was totally clueless about the city that he served." "Now, there's some in our community, supposedly responsible leaders, who have suggested if the verdict doesn't come out the way they believe that it ought to come out, that some will take to the streets," "and there may be some violence in the city." "Congregation:" "Gates has got to go!" "Tur:" "He really was never a street cop." "He was promoted, promoted, promoted." "He was groomed to become the chief." "But at the end of the day, he really didn't fully understand the city that he was supposed to police." "My personal opinion is that the people of this city are far too mature to allow that to happen and that these are just voices in the wilderness trying to stir up some kind of -- of problem." "[ Engine revs ]" "[ Police radio scanner chatter ]" "Goldman:" "Look at Mr. Young looking like a mother." "Me and Mike was heading out, listening to the scanner on the tow truck rolling down Florence and got the call that, what it said -- not guilty or something on the thing..." "Yeah." "And [bleep]" "Mike hit the U-turn." "Jumped off." "Got my [bleep] on." "Dispatcher:" "Florence and Normandie." "Next thing I know, I hear, "Come on." "Let's go." "They " " Something going on in Florence and Normandie."" "So you know, I ran out of the house." "And I had my camera." "[ Tires squeal ] Officer needs help." "Moulin:" "Shortly after the verdict on the 29th," "I heard a couple officers requesting help here at the intersection of Florence and Normandie, more specifically right here at 71st and Normandie." "Goldman:" "I hope he needs help getting his ass kicked 'cause I don't like police." "I've only had one encounter with the police when I was like 13 years old and I pulled a false alarm and I got roughed up for that -- more than a little bit roughed up." "And I always had a negative impression on the LAPD after that." "[ Siren walls, horn honks ]" "People have asked me over the years why did we have cameras, and I said, "Well, you know, my love for videos didn't happen until I was in the military."" "And I think I was in Germany when I was reading about the battering ram and picking up the kids or, you know, suspected gang members on the streets." "And the problem that, you know, the community was having with the choke hold," "I could never trust the police." "You know, whether that was in LAPD, military police," "I just had this distrust for them that stuck with me even the day I was out there filming." "[ Man shouting indistinctly ]" "Tim:" "I get it from here." "Moulin:" "Two officers were trying to put a suspect in the car that had thrown a rock at the car." "I had two bricks in my hand, and -- but I didn't throw them." "And somebody had threw a brick and hit the car." "They had looked back and had saw me." "[ Helicopter blades whirring, people shouting ]" "Tana:" "I remember right before, like, the moment before it started to get hectic, it was because, like, my brother, which is Seandel Daniels " "He was one of the first ones arrested, as well as her uncle, which was Mark." "And that's what actually, like, got the tension really going." "They were on 71st on one side of Normandie, and the police were on the other side." "So it was kind of like a stand-off, you know?" "Relax!" "Relax!" "[ Shouting continues ]" "Watson:" "The situation was chaotic 'cause it was people on all sides." "Police were grabbing people, you know, trying to arrest folks and just " "It was too many people." "You know what I'm saying?" "They were out-manned, outnumbered." "You know, just too much." "It was too chaotic." "[ People shouting ]" "Moulin:" "Well, as you can see, none of the officers have helmets." "None of the officers have shields." "We have no riot gear." "We're not prepared to go out and put down a civil unrest at this point." "Of course, the crowd was angry at the verdict they'd just heard, and the police were the target." "Bartholomew:" "It was total chaos." "As I photographed, it was very noisy." "There's -- There were tires screeching..." "[ Camera shutter clicking ]" "Man:" "Y'all better turn the [bleep] around." "Man #2: [Bleep] now, y'all." "Bartholomew:" "...horns honking..." "[ Horn honks ] ...glass breaking, and there were rocks being thrown." "[ People shouting ]" "When the crowd was building and building and building," "I could hear people say, "It's Uzi time."" "And on the other side of me, I heard a guy say," ""Cops gonna die tonight."" "Moulin:" "To stay here would have been insane." "So I made the decision, "Let's get the police out of here."" "The police were the targets of a community that's angry." "They had every right to be angry." "I saw the verdict." "I saw what the officers did." "I can't believe to this day that a jury in America viewing that tape found that the officers were -- were innocent." "So why stay here?" "[ P.A. system chirps ]" "Bartholomew:" "There was a loudspeaker that was coming from a police car that says, "Okay, I want everybody out." "Everybody out of Florence and Normandie."" "[ P.A. system chirps ]" "Tur:" "I'm listening to this, and I'm flashing back on the Watts riots when Daryl Gates, a young lieutenant, ordered his officers out of the area." "And now we have Lieutenant Moulin ordering his officers out of the area." "And I'm going, like, "Oh, my God," "I know why he's doing it." "It's the right thing for his officers' safety,"" "but, you know, you're about to see an explosion." "When I heard that, I thought, "We have to get out of here."" "[ P.A. system chirps, siren wails ]" "As I photographed the retreat of the police officers, that's when I was suddenly surrounded by a crowd, and people were yelling, "Get his film!" "Get his film!"" "I turned back this way towards my car, and one guy with a 2x4 just went -- bam!" " right up under my jaw like that, and I had broken my jaw." "Very luckily, one big guy, Tim, came on my right-hand side." "He put his arm around me and said," ""You've got to get back to your car." "You've got to get back to your car."" "Goldman:" "You know, I actually had someone hold my camera because I recognized somebody who was going after Bart Bartholomew." "I know what road this is gonna lead down to." "You don't want to ruin this person's life because of the anger we have." "You can see me in there telling him to leave him alone and get off, and I'm over there by his car before he takes off, telling people to back off him." "Bartholomew:" "I came around and opened the door, and Tim kind of helped -- pushed me into the car." "And when I got into the car," "I sat and I turned the key, and then a big rock came flying through the window." "[ Glass shatters ] Woman:" "Hey!" "Bartholomew:" "But it took a whole bunch of glass and then just shoved it right into the side of my face." "♪♪" "The last images I was able to take were of the retreat, and you could tell the crowd was very empowered at this moment because they felt that they had won a-a victory." "They won a battle in what was just starting off to be a-a war." "[ Siren walls ]" "When they actually told these police to retreat, the people of this community felt like, "Yeah!" "That's what we talking about." Like, "They fear us now." "This is what I'm talking about." "We doing what we need to do."" "So after they took Mark and Seandel away in a police car, the people that was left was really outraged at this point now, like, "Oh, it's going down."" "[ Tires squeal ] Man:" "Move!" "Move!" "Move!" "Tana:" "Right then and there, they just lit a fire." "[ Glass shatters ]" "And it was uncontainable." "Bartholomew:" "We didn't understand how big this flashpoint was going to become." "[ Horn honks ]" "We didn't understand that the riots had begun." "♪♪" "The jury in the Los Angeles police brutality trial has just reached its verdicts this evening." "[Bleep]" "You got to be kidding!" "Moulin:" "Shortly after the verdict on the 29th," "I heard a couple officers requesting help here at the intersection of 71st and Normandie." "There are some in our communities who have suggested there may be some violence in this city." "Man:" "[Bleep] all y'all!" "Man #2:" "Y'all better turn the [bleep] around." "Watson:" "Police were grabbing people, you know, trying to arrest folks." "Tana:" "And that's what got the tension really going." "Moulin:" "We had people in the crowd yelling, "It's Uzi time."" "It was kind of like a standoff." "Moulin:" "Police were the targets of a community that's angry." "[Bleep] y'all." "[ Siren walls ] To stay here would have been insane." "[ Crowd shouting ]" "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Tana:" "These people that was on 71st and Normandie -- this crowd of 100 people now made their way to Florence and Normandie." "Tur:" "Now, Kim, here's the situation." "Tom's Liquor Store " "You're looking at a live picture here at Normandie and Florence." "There has been a mini riot at this location." "Man:" "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!" "Go!" "Tana:" "They feel everything that was right there belonged to them." "That liquor store -- demolished." "The gas station -- torn apart." "Man:" "Yeah, yeah!" "[ Glass shattering, people shouting ]" "Watson:" "You got to look at it." "It was black rage." "They were upset." "People were upset." "♪♪" "Moulin:" "After we left this intersection," "I made the decision to organize a command post." "♪♪" "We had to take this bus station over with 24 officers." "We had to clear the facility of all the buses." "We were here trying to organize what should have been up and operating the moment that the jury went out." "It was a horrible, horrible situation, but we couldn't set up the command post and respond to all the calls at the same time." "It's just -- It just doesn't work that way." "Falley:" "I hear my grams in the next room like," ""I can't believe this [bleep]"" "She's like, "They done got off."" "I'm only 13 years old, and I'm like," ""Man, I need to make my way to the block."" "I tear ass all the way up to Florence, and I saw all the ruckus." "Man, I saw the liquor store was demolished." "You know, lottery tickets thrown all out of this gas station." "You know, as you hear [Imitates tires screeching] boom!" "You know, cars crashing 'cause they getting thrown rocks and bottles." "You know what I mean?" "And I'm just engulfed in the moment." "You know, it's -- it's 45 minutes, you know, maybe, after the verdict was read." "Man:" "Break all that [bleep] out!" "Man #2:" "Yeah!" "♪♪" "[ Glass shattering ] Woman:" "She off." "She's trying to help him." "Look at it!" "♪♪" "Goldman:" "Things were happening so fast." "I-I don't know what I would have been doing if I didn't have the camera in my hand." "Something just told me to record." "Watson:" "You get swept up into the emotions of the particular moment, whether it's temporary insanity or whatever." "You behave in a manner that you wouldn't normally behave." "Jones:" "I was a firefighter." "I lived in the area between Vermont and Normandie during the riots." "As they started showing the intersection of Florence and Normandie and the crowd that was building there, and not living very far from there," "I just wanted to see what was going on in person." "Tur:" "Drivers came under attack with rocks, bottles, bricks, anything that could be thrown." "This in the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict." "Man:" "I'm just watching now a car passing that's headed southbound on Normandie." "The driver, Asian." "Every window on his car is smashed." "When he stopped, a crowd of people just ran toward his car." "They pulled both the doors open." "Tur:" "There's a live picture." "They're now pulling the door off the car, and they're cracking the windows." "They are in the process of destroying an automobile." "Jones:" "They dragged him out, they started beating him, hitting him and kicking him, knocking him to the ground." "And watching that, for some reason, I just had enough." "I walked out there and used a few choice words and said," ""Get away from him."" "And I stood over him until I could figure out how to get him out of that intersection." "And then this guy walked up to me from the corner and said, "Hey, I don't care who you are." "You got a minute to get out of here."" "So I put Mr. Choi in the passenger side, closed the door, told him to keep his head down, drove it towards the fire station." "Goldman:" "They were attacking everybody who wasn't black in the intersection." "Watson:" "You know, all that, "Turn the other cheek,"" "and holding hands " " No." "[Bleep] that." "That's the only thing America understands is violence." "Valdez:" "What you are seeing is absolute anarchy." "It is the intersection of Florence and Normandie." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Juan:" "My dad, at the time, he was beaten down from his car." "He lost track of where -- where my mom was at." "And an African American elderly guy helped him into his home and told my dad to switch shirts 'cause my dad's shirt was all covered with blood." "So he gave him one." "That same person brought my dad back home." "First thing that my dad did was go to the local sheriff's station." "My dad was asking if they would get an ambulance to go help out my mom." "I was only 4 at the time, but images don't go away that easily." "And I remember picking up my mom and seeing her face literally covered with blood." "I didn't want to get near her at all 'cause I couldn't recognize her." "It was something hard that day." "♪♪" "♪♪" "Valdez:" "What you are seeing is absolute anarchy." "It is the intersection of Florence and Normandie." "There is a liquor store on the northeast corner here." "It has been looted." "We have dozens of cars going by with broken windows." "Tur:" "LAPD has just told me that they have ordered all police helicopters and cruisers out of this area." "Valdez:" "It is just utter lawlessness." "Tur:" "We cannot find a police car within one mile of this intersection." "[ Horns honking ]" "Moulin:" "What was happening at Florence and Normandie?" "The liquor stores, the gun stores, the supermarkets -- they were being looted." "And they were being looted wholesale without any challenge by the police." "Valdez:" "The point that is just absolutely astounding is that there is no law enforcement here whatsoever." "Man:" "Oh, man." "Moulin:" "We didn't have any police." "The powers to be had sent the police officers for day watch home, they didn't hold the detectives over, and they had yet to mobilize the department, which would call the off-duty officers back in to be deployed." "Man:" "Certainly gonna be questions about that lack of police response to that corner of Normandie and Florence." "Moulin:" "This is where we needed to be to organize this command post for the hundreds and thousands of officers that would flood into this area over the next five, six days so that we could systematically deploy them back into the community" "and provide police service." "In other words, establish law and order." "Tur:" "We're reporting this to the LAPD, and we are trying to get help for these injured people." "My name's Hannah Zoey Tur." "I used to be Bob Tur." "I-I had a sex change." "South Central Los Angeles " "We're seeing a dark day here in Los Angeles." "I went down to Florence and Normandie." "I hovered the helicopter with some standoff distance so people on the ground wouldn't necessarily see there was a helicopter hovering over that intersection." "The main body of action has been the South Central area of Florence and Normandie." "But, as you can see, there is no police presence here as of yet." "Moulin:" "We had no command staff." "We had no direction." "We didn't have vehicles." "We didn't have equipment." "The lion's share of that responsibility has to fall upon the Chief of Police, and we needed Daryl Gates to establish this command post." "That particular trial..." "Moulin:" "But he, at that time, was at a fundraiser." "We didn't see him at this command post until late in the evening on the -- on the eve of April 29th, somewhere around 11:00 or midnight." "He decided at that point that he was overwhelmed and took all of his forces to the command post at 54th, and there they sat." "Moulin:" "Daryl Gates came to the bus depot, and he was infuriated because there were officers sitting around." "We weren't doing anything because he didn't make a plan." "Y'all think -- -[Bleep] the police!" "[Bleep]" "[Bleep] the mother[bleep] police!" "Vandenberg:" "We from around here, Florence and Normandie, all our lives." "We was here in '92, the riots." "♪♪" "I remember when Reginald Denny was coming down Florence." "Everybody just had bricks, and if they wasn't black, Hispanic from right here," "Florence and Normandie, you know, they were getting their window smashed." "And Reginald Denny " "They seen him coming with his blond hair." "Somebody hit a good window shot of him, and he [Imitates crashing] crashed right here and, you know, somebody opened the door, and [bleep] he fell out or whatever." "And it was, you know, just -- On after that." "Yeah." "You know, helicopters." "Tur:" "Here's the situation from South Central." "Drivers of automobiles and trucks that enter this area can expect to..." "Oh, look at that." "My ex-wife was with me, Marika." "Terrible!" "And I remember watching Reginald Denny get attacked." "And I told Marika, "Zoom in."" "Marika's gonna get you a shot of this." "The images told the story." "I didn't really have to say much." "You saw on live television this man being beaten viciously." "And there was not a thing I could do except televise it and hope that the police would come." "There's no police presence down here." "They will not enter the area." "Ellis:" "When I was standing in the middle of Florence and Normandie taping Reginald Denny, if that would have been me," "I wouldn't have never stopped." "I wouldn't have never stopped." "I would have just kept going, blow my horn, get out the way." "But he stopped." "Tur:" "Oh, look at that." "Do you see that?" "He's " " He's reaching up for help, and somebody kicked him in the head." "Johnson:" "April 29, 1992, was not the beginning of a riot." "It was the beginning of an uprising of a rebellion against oppression, against police brutality, against bull[bleep]" "The officers being acquitted in the Rodney King incident " "That was just another example of bull[bleep]" "♪♪" "Watson:" "I been right here all my life, three blocks from Florence and Normandie." "I had to make up for not graduating high school, so I wound up going in the Marine Corps." "I was trained to kill." "That's what Marines do -- kill, kill, kill." "I got out of the Marine Corps in 1985." "You know, I just tried employment." "I tried to seek a job." "It just didn't happen." "Door after door was being closed, so I hit the streets." "I didn't wake up on April 29th an decide to wreak havoc in Los Angeles, California." "Woman:" "Keekee, come on, now." "Come on, brother." "Watson:" "I got swept up into the moment, and I was out there hooking and jabbing and attacking mother[bleep] just like everybody else was." "Was no rational thought." "I wasn't thinking about who was this " "If you was -- wasn't black and you came through that intersection, you was assed out, period." "♪♪" "Ellis:" "When my boy hit the dude in the head," "I was standing there, and I felt it." "Oh!" "You can just feel pain." "I felt for the dude." "At the time, I think I was gonna try to help him, but there was just so much going on." "He's just lying there looking so just blasted out, helpless." "Tur:" "Okay, he's -- he's moving." "He's " " A lot of blood gushing from the man's head." "Someone's standing there taking a picture." "He's taking a videotape of the man laying on the street, but nobody's helping him." "Unbelievable." "This is attempted murder." "♪♪" "Somebody is driving off this -- this truck." "Murphy:" "As I was approaching the truck," "I noticed there was a man going towards the driver's side of the truck." "I didn't know it was Bobby at the time, but we immediately realized that we were on the same team, and he said, "I'm a truck driver."" "And I said, "Cool." "Let's roll."" "Tur:" "Looks like someone's helping the driver." "It took all four of us to get the truck out of there because if it wasn't for Terri being out in front," "Lee was comforting Denny, and Bobby being a truck driver, and myself actually being the eyes for Bobby as he was driving," "I don't think we would have got there in time." "In fact, when we got to the hospital, we was told then that if we had been 30 seconds later, he would have died." "Singleton:" "In all respect, what happened to Reginald Denny is really a travesty." "But my true feelings on it was, when I was watching it," "I saw the kind of, like, Yin and Yang of Rodney King being beat on film and Reginald Denny being almost murdered by some cats on Florence and Normandie." "And I was like, "Look at this." "This is the same thing." "This is the same thing."" "♪♪" "♪♪" "Man:" "Over the last three hours, sporadic violence and fires have broken out, and I guess any reasonable person might consider the Rodney King not-guilty verdicts involving those police officers the catalyst for this violence, looting, and fires in the streets of South Central." "Woman:" "Let's switch to another location, another scene of activity, where there has been a large crowd is Parker Center, the police headquarters." "Singleton:" "Parker Center is the central location of Los Angeles Police Department." "And so when the riots first popped off, a lot of folks went straight downtown to Parker Center to express their anger at the verdicts." "Woman:" "This was the scene inside Parker Center as angry demonstrators stormed the front entrance, throwing rocks and other objects at the doors." "The protest had started out peaceful." "People of all color marching outside, occasionally stopping traffic." "Singleton:" "They're showing black people predominantly rioting, but it was a multiethnic riot." "I'm not an advocate of violence." "You need change." "The system doesn't work." "You need change." "This was " " They tried the system." "It doesn't work." "Singleton:" "There were people from all walks of life that were angry about this incident." "We were waiting for the system, and it did not work, so that's why we're out here." "[ Crowd chanting indistinctly ]" "Woman:" "Emotions are running very, very high both here at Parker Center and in South Central." "Maintain!" "Maintain!" "Woman:" "Those seem to be the two places where people are venting their anger." "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Tur:" "I'm gonna show you a wide shot as we pan of South Central Los Angeles, and as you can see, in every direction, we see fire." "♪♪" "Murray:" "The fires were burning." "Every other house seemed to be on fire." "It was just like an inferno." "♪♪" "I came back, called the fire units." "The man said, "We have a problem because young black street men are throwing rocks at the firemen." "We don't want our firemen injured."" "Man:" "Firemen reported people were shooting at them, and at least two firefighters were wounded." "Watson:" "The whole community felt it." "Everybody felt that." "Look at all those people on Florence and Normandie." "The other areas just -- they took flight, too." "Tur:" "The situation here at Florence and Normandie is still out of control." "Watson:" "They figured if they're on Florence and Normandie, ain't no police showing up, they're not doing anything." "They ran out of their house and did the same thing." "You know, it spread like wildfire in Los Angeles." "Moulin:" "Florence and Normandie was just one of hundreds of intersections in the city that were lost to the community." "The community had taken the intersections over." "They'd looted the liquor stores." "They'd looted the gun stores." "They'd looted all of the supermarkets." "After the verdict, we began receiving phone calls from the Korean merchants who were stuck in South Central Los Angeles." "They called 911, but the police was not coming." "Man:" "Tensions between blacks and Koreans had simmered for years before the riots." "They have not treated black customers friendly." "They have not treated them with respect." "We don't respect the customer?" "That's not true." "We do." "Man:" "Then in October 1991, a Korean business owner shot and killed a black teenager in a dispute caught on a security camera." "Woman:" "It was clearly a murder." "The child was killed in cold blood." "♪♪" "Man:" "The Korean woman got no jail term, but five years probation." "Tensions reached a new high." "Then came the Rodney King-verdict riots." "The two cases are linked in the minds of some blacks." "Man #2:" "I'm here to protest because the verdict was " "It was absurd." "It was crazy." "Crazy!" "Look at the message that they're sending the black community." "They're telling us they don't give a damn about us." "Look at Latasha Harlins' thing." "Look who they got on the front." "Look at this." "Singleton:" "Whether or not it was Latasha Harlins' killing at the Korean grocer culminating up into Rodney King's beating," "L.A. and South L.A. was a powder keg." "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Tur:" "It's very sad." "It's just a tragic sight to see areas of South Central hit this hard." "I've been down to these liquor stores and these markets, and they're owned by families." "They're mom-and-pop operations that are now fully engulfed in flames." "And it's tragic." "I hope that people look at these pictures and can bring some semblance of calm to the area." "But so far, as night has fallen here in South Central Los Angeles, things continue to get worse." "Gumbel:" "The anger that hit L.A. after the King verdict is unfortunately spreading, and so is the violence." "Man:" "People are driving by, shooting at us, and we have to do something about it." "We have no police support whatsoever." "Woman:" "Koreans are starting to shoot." "Man:" "There were gun battles, and Korean merchants defended the businesses." "Koreatown turned into a war zone." "Tur:" "It's just a tragic sight to see areas of South Central hit this hard." "Man:" "All night, looters running wild in the streets of Los Angeles." "Moulin:" "The liquor stores, the gun stores, the supermarkets -- they were being looted without any challenge by the police." "Man:" "The crowds overturned a police car, one of many vehicles destroyed." "Woman:" "Five people were killed, four shot to death." "Woman #2:" "Almost 2,000 buildings have been torched, the cost of 24 hours of arson at $250 million." "Man:" "There was some hope that daylight might bring calm." "But the sun only shed light on the fact that the situation was still out of control." "Businesses began to shut down in the morning." "Many more closed as looting intensified." "Oh, man, I got cases of beans, man." "[ Glass shatters ] I got Ovaltine." "I got everything, brother." "Everybody was doing it -- white, Hispanics, blacks." "Man:" "People are driving by, shooting at us, and we have to do something about it." "We have no police support whatsoever." "We had a van shooting at the crowd, and as that occurred, we all dove for cover in the store." "Man:" "This is a war zone." "Anyone, we need your help." "[ Police radio chatter ]" "Man on radio:" "We are with you." "[ Sirens wailing ]" "[ Radio chatter continues ]" "[ Siren walls ]" "♪♪" "[ Gunfire ]" "[ Gunshots ] [ Man shouts ]" "[ Gunshot, bullet clatters ]" "[ Gunshot, car alarm blaring ]" "[ Crying ]" "♪♪" "[ Crying ] 22 years down the drain." "♪♪" "A lot of my aunts and uncles came here in the late '50s and early to mid '60s to study." "After that, we came." "And my parents came here with about $100." "And when we first came here, we had many, many different challenges." "You know, for me, I couldn't speak a word of English, and being an outsider coming in, it was very, very difficult for me." "When I come out this way, I deliberately avoid this area because it's a constant reminder of what happened." "I have mixed emotions." "I have mixed feelings about being here today." "♪♪" "That beauty salon right there -- it used to be Kay's Beauty Salon." "That was my mother's." "I haven't been back for 20-some years." "♪♪" "We got a call from one of my parents' friends." "The store was burnt down." "We came down here." "I was in shock." "I was " " I was just totally in shock and traumatized." "[ Inhales sharply ] I mean, can't people realize what they're doing is wrong?" "This is not the way to overcome racism." "♪♪" "They worked so hard." "They came here with nothing." "They worked so, so hard to build this place, and they sacrificed so much." "[ Sniffles ]" "And to see it just..." "gone." "♪♪" "This used to be my mother's building years ago." "Estela:" "Yes." "Yes." "Kay's Beauty Salon." "I know." "A long time ago, yeah." "I'm her daughter." "[ Sniffles ] Thank you for letting us come in here." "Ay, it's okay." "I'm sorry." "It's okay." "♪♪" "Hwang:" "My dad worked three jobs, my mother, a couple of jobs." "They swallowed their pride, worked hard, saved money." "They invested." "For them, they reached the American dream." "♪♪" "After the L.A. riot, my mom was in and out of counselors, and then she had cancer." "My father had [Sniffles] his first stroke and then a second and third." "And then I end up burying both of my parents back to back." "[ Sobbing ]" "And we had nothing to do with the verdict." "My parents were just a bystander." "And hopefully through my story, people will realize the long-term impact of the riot and the consequences." "Thank you for letting me go up there." "I'm sorry." "♪♪" "Man:" "The situation here is far from contained." "[ Alarm ringing ] Man #2:" "It's not over." "They're gonna go to Beverly Hills." "They're gonna go to Westwood." "They're gonna go to Century City." "Where do I go and buy milk for my children now?" "They have burned up everything." "Man:" "Hundreds and hundreds of jobs have been lost." "Woman:" "This is unfair!" "This is unfair!" "We must hurry." "No, I'm not going!" "No!" "Policeman:" "No part in the city's safe." "We're stretched so thin." "They know it." "We have made available some 2,000 National Guardsmen." "Woman:" "In two nights of riots following the verdict in the Rodney King case, more than two dozen people have been killed, more than 900 injured, and almost 1,000 people arrested." "What we got is a bunch of people out here who are marching for what they believe." "I know y'all feel like we didn't get justice, but please, in the name of Jesus, cut out the violence!" "This ain't the way to do it!" "We are the victims here, as well as the black community." "Because of that verdict in Simi Valley, our city's been torn apart." "Mr. King has anger over that and concern over that." "But he wants the citizens of Los Angeles and the world to know he will have justice again in a court of law." "Man:" "Rodney King speaks out for an end to the violence for the first time." "♪♪" "Johnnie:" "I met Rodney King as kids hanging out down at a park, looking for earthworms to go fishing." "We grew up in Pasadena, California, right below Altadena." "At the time, Pasadena area was the Bloods, and then Altadena was the Crips." "Me and Rodney -- we tried the gang life." "It didn't work out for us." "We both had brothers that was members of the Altadena Blocc Crips, so we kind of stood away from it." "We was into doing other things, go hang out in the baseball parks up in Altadena and go fishing over there." "I met Rodney's parents at a young age." "The dad was an alcoholic." "Every time I saw the dad, he was drunk." "He used to just sit out in the garage and just drink all day." "And in the evening times, I guess he would go to work, which was a maintenance job cleaning buildings." "And that's when he would take Rodney and -- and his brothers with him." "It definitely had an effect on him because when we would leave school and go home to study," "Rodney had to go to work with his dad." "Juan:" "Odessa King, my mother, raised four of us in a religious environment known as the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah Witnesses in Altadena, California." "We were taught to be respectful of people, of races, you know, and not to just see color." "She raised us, man, to just get along with people, love people, and try to be at peace as much as possible." "And it wasn't an easy road, like I said, 'cause there was a lot of racism and a lot of negative things going on for that era." "♪♪" "Johnnie:" "That was our biggest issue -- dealing with the Altadena sheriff." "They would pull you over for no reason." "You can be walking home, and they want to question you about anything and everything." "So we knew to stay away from the police at all costs." "Stay away from the sheriff." "[ Radio beeps ] Dispatcher:" "ADW suspect approached in Fairfax." "Johnnie:" "When the verdict came down," "Rodney felt like they had beat him up again." "When the riot happened," "Rodney was happy about the riot, just like everybody else." "I was happy about the riots." "Let's tear some [bleep] up." "[ Police radio chatter ]" "♪♪" "[ Siren walls ]" "Cynthia:" "They'd say, "Rodney, you got to stop this." "You got to stop this." "They gonna burn this whole city down."" "So, he was like, "You know what?" "They deserve to burn it down because they're not doing justice for me, so people are outraged."" "[ People chanting "Guilty!" ]" "Johnnie:" "The people were standing up for Rodney and fighting for Rodney." "I'm willing to die for the brother." "Crowd:" "No justice, no peace!" "No justice, no peace!" "You think we're gonna just continue to, like, turn our cheek?" "Burn, baby, burn." "We wanted to go and loot and riot and act a fool, too, but we finally came to our senses, and it's -- it's just something that didn't happen." "We didn't do it." "Lerman:" "I talked to him, had this heartfelt conversation." ""If you don't say something now in an attempt to halt the violence, you know, that's a problem for you and your public image."" "Man:" "Ladies and gentlemen of the press, Rodney King." "Johnnie:" "He didn't want the people to feel like he had let them down." "But the innocent people getting hurt on the street and killed and being beaten was just a little bit too much for myself and for Rodney." "♪♪" "I want to again emphasize to all of you this is his very, very first public appearance." "Lerman:" "Rodney was very sympathetic in terms of the black community." "And he didn't want to say anything that would portray him as somehow against the community and what this horrible verdict meant to them." "So, I said, "Well, if you had your own way, what would you say?" And..." "People, I just " "I just want to say, you know, can we -- can we all get along?" "Singleton:" "At that moment, we was like, "Man [bleep] you."" "[ Laughs ] We were still mad." "We were pissed the [bleep] off." "Juan:" "When Rodney said, "Can we all just get along?"" "what he said was the right thing to say." "None of us can really say how much pain and anguish and a mixture of emotions that Rodney had at that time." "And you see he's stammering, you know " ""C-Can " " Can we all get along?"" "That was coming from his heart." "Can we stop making it -- making horrible for -- for the -- for the older people and the -- and the -- and the -- and the kids?" "What Rodney was saying is, "Can we all just get along?"" "He's basically looking out at the city, and he's seeing the death toll." "[ Voice breaking ] It's just not right because those people will never go home to -- to their families again." "Juan:" "You know, we're out here together, trying to push a line to let the government, the Capitol, anybody in power know," ""We are fed up with this brutality, excessive force." "We're fed up with being neglected certain rights as humans." "But we're out here rioting, hurting each other, trying to prove our point."" "So, Rodney said, "Can we all just get along, people?" "We're killing each other."" "Lerman:" "He said, "How did I do?"" "and I said, "You did great." "We worked together on this, but it came out of your mouth."" "In fact, the words made the cover of Time magazine." "Rodney could have been turned utterly bitter." "Strangely, he could look ahead and see a brighter day." "♪♪" "Brokaw:" "In Los Angeles today, it will be a day to get tough." "City officials want a massive show of force on the streets." "We are going to ensure the safety of this city." "Man:" "National Guardsmen took up positions in the streets of Los Angeles." "The regular Army troops and Marines ordered up by President Bush moved to staging areas." "Man #2:" "They have orders to shoot if fired upon." "Bradley:" "We are going to take back the streets from those thugs and hoodlums who have used this as a device to loot, to burn, to kill, and we will not tolerate it." "♪♪" "Tur:" "The first day of the rioting was about violence." "It was about fire." "President Bush:" "What is going on in L.A. must and will stop." "As your President," "I guarantee you this violence will end." "[ Alarm ringing ] Tur:" "As the days went on, the violence rippled outward into other communities within Los Angeles itself." "Which one?" "Which one?" "Through the National Guard, we train frequently for riot-type situations." "Tur:" "By the third day, the National Guard was there." "Order was being restored." "People were calming down." "♪♪" "[ Glass scraping ]" "Olmos:" "It took three days of rioting," "Wednesday into Thursday into Friday, and Friday is when there were more people cleaning than there were fighting." "[ Crowd chanting "Stop the violence!" ]" "I went on my own." "I grabbed a broom." "And I started sweeping right down the center of Adams." "And right on the corner of Western and -- and Adams, that building was burning." "And all of a sudden, the Channel 9 news team goes flashing by, and they put it over the air." "Within 15 to 20 minutes after that aired, cars started to come from everywhere with brooms sticking out of the windows." "And that was like the flag of " "Everybody knew where they -- those people were going." "And it became a -- a really strong movement." "Hi, Tom." "How are you?" "God, thank you." "God bless you." "How are you, man?" "Oh, man, you have been wonderful." "You've been everywhere." "It helps to release an incredible amount of negative feelings that one might have about the situation, and you start becoming part of the solution instead of part of the problem." "Man:" "There was an interesting mood change in some Los Angeles neighborhoods." "As firefighters arrived at yet another store, which had been looted and set afire, there were no rocks and bottles, but lots of helping hands." "Singleton:" "I mean, that was very beautiful because it was cathartic timing, which a lot of people who would had never thought about what they were doing and how it was propagating a kind of systematic victimization by authoritarian figures," "where they were like, "Yo, listen, we got to stick together." "You know, this is like -- Why are we fighting each other?" "You know, we need to, like, be in solidarity with each other as brothers because, you know, all of us are being persecuted."" "Woman:" "Gang wars in Los Angeles claim hundreds of lives every year, many of the victims innocent bystanders." "But the Rodney King verdict may change things." "Man:" "There's talk of a truce in a war some thought might never end." "L.A.'s warring gangs," "Bloods and Crips some 100,000 strong, may turn their anger about the Rodney King verdict into peace." "...'cause if it don't happen now, it ain't gonna never happen." "Myrick:" "I remember back then, in '92, right after the riots, we had a gang truce, and we were trying to get it together." "♪♪" "Bloods and Crips together, rags tied together, shaking hands, hugging." "You had Grape Street's Crips out of Watts and the Bounty Hunters that actually started getting along, going to each other's projects." "Man:" "In the past, the mere sight of a rival gang's colors -- red for Bloods, blue for Crips -- would trigger deadly violence." "Even right here, live in your face, you could see a change because this guy grew up in a different neighborhood, which would be considered our enemies over here." "So, you got guys like this, like us, can sit down together -- you know what I'm saying?" " break bread without even tripping, worrying about it." "You know what I mean?" "Back in the days, it didn't go down like that." "We're tired of people asking the question," ""How long is the truce gonna last?"" "We need people to ask the question," ""What can I do to make it last?" Man:" "Yeah." "It's time that every one of us come together." "If the gangs have shown us that they can unite, why can't the city council members unite?" "If the gangs have showed us that they can unite, why can't all the races unite?" "It's time for unity." "♪♪" "Tur:" "In its aftermath, the toll was startling." "Flying the helicopter over the city, seeing where there were once buildings and businesses, gone -- you know, just scorched earth." "♪♪" "Murray:" "In the end, it had really reached ultimate depths of pain." "Man:" "This doesn't make you discouraged?" "This makes us look at it, and out of discouragement comes encouragement." "This can be a dream." "Right here is the beginning of something new." "$1 billion in property damage, some of which even today has not been restored." "Porter:" "Those resources are gone." "There's no library anymore over here." "Tana:" "None of that." "There's no after-school programs anymore." "There's no watering hole." "The markets " "You got to travel farther for the markets now." "Like, those markets didn't come back." "So, it was like, you know, you walk in your house, and you say, "Dang, man, I want some " "I need some milk for my cereal."" "Them markets is closed." "Like, you got to travel a distance just to get some milk." "The gas station that was around the corner is no longer around the corner no more." "So you don't got no gas." "You can't get no food." "Everything is burned down." "Murray:" "Over 50 people are killed, over 2,000 wounded." "If the officers had been on duty, if the Chief of Police had been present, we might have had a different result." "Woman:" "Why did it take the police so long to get to the first violent incidents, where people were dragged out of their cars and beaten?" "I know." "I asked the same question -- "Where were the police?"" "Man on P.A.:" "Everybody out of here, Florence and Normandie." "Murray:" "The Police Chief was not present." "The police were not present as those who were to keep the peace." "Gates:" "Our response?" "I wish " " I'm a perfectionist." "I wish it was -- had been much faster, but it was not." "Murray:" "They came on board later... but it was far too late." "The damage had been done." "Valdez:" "What you are seeing is the intersection of Florence and Normandie." "Singleton:" "Everybody knew on all sides of this that this was something exacerbated by poor pre-planning." "They knew the tension was high going into these verdicts." "[ Indistinct shouting ]" "Valdez:" "It is just utter lawlessness." "And the point that is just absolutely astounding is that there is no law enforcement here whatsoever." "Man:" "Oh, man." "Singleton:" "In the aftermath of the riots," "Chief Daryl Gates was on the hot seat for what happened because Gates could have done a whole lot in advance, and they would have squashed this." "♪♪" "Couric:" "The L.A. County Sheriff said," ""If you had a plan, it didn't make any sense."" "The head of the police commission," "Stanley Sheinbaum, said, "Placing blame is not the issue." "What is the issue is where was the plan?"" "And the lieutenant, the field commander whom you accused of failing to contain the riot at the flashpoint, also says," ""There was no plan, no preparations, no mechanism to hold the day watch over, no radios, no batteries, and no ammunition except for what was in the officers' shotguns."" "If there was a plan, why didn't people know about it?" "Well, first of all, Katie, they did." "The sheriff's quote is a misquote." "I've already talked to him." "He's " "He's very upset over that quote." "And there are many others, though." "Yeah." "And the " " Stanley Sheinbaum is too new to know whether there was a plan." "The lieutenant, quite frankly, is -- made some serious mistakes." "Moulin:" "The lion's share of that responsibility has to fall upon the Chief of Police." "That particular trial..." "But he, at that time, was at a fundraiser to defeat Proposition F." "...the virtues of our system." "Proposition F was a proposition that would have put term limits on the office of the Chief of Police and, in essence, would have put him out of a job." "Man:" "Chief Gates..." "You were there, and you know I stayed a very, very short period of time." "And not a great deal had broken out at that time." "When I went, it was earlier than that." "Your recollection's pretty poor." "[ Reporters clamoring ]" "Singleton:" "And then, when that didn't work out for him, he tried to find a scapegoat and pin it on -- on one guy, you know, within his department." "He decided at that point that he was overwhelmed and took all of his forces, all of the uniformed forces, to the command post at Van Nuys and 54th." "And there they sat." "It has destroyed my career." "It has turned my personal life and that of my family and my friends totally upside down." "Daryl Gates went on national television and said that the lieutenant in charge at Florence and Normandie didn't fulfill his responsibilities." "And that became the flashpoint and was basically the cause of all the riots, which was -- Nobody believed that except him, and I'm not even sure he believed it." "He had enough people to go back into Florence and Normandie." "He did not do that." "When assigning blame for failure of the Los Angeles Police Department to properly respond to the events of April 29th, perhaps Chief Gates should look into the mirror." "He's not a scapegoat?" "Absolutely not." "You know, I've never mentioned his name." "Absolutely I'm a scapegoat." "He's fingered me." "He's placed blame." "There was no mistake I was going after Daryl Gates in any way I could because what he did to me, but more so, what he did to the community." "He let the community down." "His name was mentioned, quite frankly, by his own people, who were incensed over his lack of leadership." "But you are the leader." "You are the Chief of Police." "And according to the L.A. City Charter, one of your first duties..." "Is to control riots." "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Tur:" "Someone's standing there taking a videotape of the man laying on the street, but nobody's helping him." "Goldman:" "After the tapes aired on May 6th, my friend came by to tell my mother that the police were there looking for me." "After they did their little investigative reporting, they discovered that me and Terry were related and that this was the common address." "And they were able to serve the search warrant on this location, looking for the tapes." "Ellis:" "Maybe 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, I just " "Somebody was shaking me." "And I turned around -- and full of police." "About at least six police were here in my -- in my bedroom right here." "And they took me to the station, and basically they were asking me," ""Where's the video?" "Where's the video?"" "And they showed me myself actually standing there, videoing at Florence and Normandie." "And they said, "We want that video."" "Goldman:" "After they did obtain one copy of the tape, the next day, they made the arrest." "Gates:" "The Los Angeles Police Department very, very concerned that our inability to reach Mr. Denny at that time he was being assaulted and after and to assist him, and so this morning we're very pleased to be able to announce that the prime suspects" "that did most of the assaulting " "Henry Keith Watson, a.k.a. "Keekee,"" "Antoine Eugene Miller," "Damian Monroe Williams, a.k.a. "Football" -- each of these individuals have been arrested at their residences." "We're very, very pleased to have made these arrests." "♪♪" "Singleton:" "He was gonna try to play cowboy for the press and -- and -- and arrest Damian "Football" Williams -- you know what I mean?" " make a big show of it." "I want you to know that I personally arrested Football." "I did that all by myself with the aid of about 200 police officers at my side." "[ Laughter ]" "♪♪" "He came in the middle of the night, personally, like, "I want to be the one to slap the cuffs on him."" "We're quite confident that this will result in a successful prosecution." "Watson:" "That courtroom is no joke." "You know, I " " I took that very serious because they were talking about my life." "Man:" "What has Timothy Goldman's videotape done to your life?" "It destroyed it." "Destroyed it?" "I don't got nothing to say to him." "I don't got nothing to say to him." "I could care less about the man." "Goldman:" "And of course, now I'm getting the blame in the neighborhood, collaborating with the police." "And there was a lot of -- there was a lot of heat, put it that way." "Quiñones:" "A lot of people feel that you're cashing in on this and, in fact, turning your back on the community." "You sold out." "Well, some people may want to say that, but I " " I don't see it that way." "And I will probably never see it that way." "Tana:" "We will look at it as, "You assisted the police in arresting somebody who was doing something for us."" "Goldman:" "You got to remember -- this is South Los Angeles, and it's real out here." "And, you know, there's a lot of guys looking for me because of the tapes." "After I heard the death threats -- and, you know, I had my son with me -- that's when I started to make myself scarce in the neighborhood." "And I " " I never came back here." "Tana:" "When they went out there to show a little rebellion about what just had happened to someone that was our color, y'all turned on them." "For y'all to turn on them, it's like y'all turned on us." "What they stood for propelled them to mythical proportions." "This guy's the face of a rebellion, the face of a revolution for a generation." "Man: "Hero" is the last word some would use to describe him." "I don't think they got what they deserved." "I think they're guilty." "I could care less if they're black or white." "If a man hurts somebody, is trying to murder them, they're guilty." "Some people -- the media or the rest of the world -- may look at these guys as monsters, but these are iconic men, who I feel proud to call friends and family and homies." "Tana:" "Damian "Football" Williams?" "Antoine Miller?" ""Keekee" Henry Watson?" "They were leaders." "They kicked the ball off." "They sacrificed their freedom, their well-being, to show the people that," ""Hey, man, we don't have to accept this,"" "and the people followed in numbers." "Crowd:" "Free the L.A. Four!" "Man:" "Right now!" "Free the L.A. Four!" "Right now!" "♪♪" "Watson:" "I was facing three life charges -- attempted murder, torture, and mayhem." "'92 was a very important year because it was an election year." "So you had the president, you had the mayor, you had the police chief, you had the D.A. -- you know, you had all these individuals that were running for election or re-election, and they used '92, in particular the riot," "as a campaign in order to, you know, get the savages." ""We will get the savages." "We will clean the streets up,"" "and all that other bull[bleep]" "Man:" "After a troubled series of deliberations, the final verdict in the Denny beating case." "♪♪" "I did 17 months off of that, and I was released in '93." "Man:" "Henry Watson received a hero's welcome as he returned home." "Watson:" "I'd like y'all to leave me alone and let me go about my life." "Let me live my life with my family." "♪♪" "This is a turnaround for America, that he " "We finally got justice." "♪♪" "If you ask anybody around here," ""What you think they did was wrong?"" "they would say, "What they done to that man was wrong, but I think it was time for that."" "In our history, it shows that the people will be only suppressed for so long until they lash out." "And now here we are again at that road." "No." "Don't touch me." "[Bleep]" "You got Eric Garner." "I can't breathe!" "You got Michael Brown." "Those are aftershocks." "[ Gunshot ] And what people always taught you about an earthquake is, first it's gonna shake a little, and then it's gonna shake a lot." "[ Crowd chanting indistinctly ]" "That's what's to come." "If we don't change the way we interact with the police..." "Relax!" "Relax!" "...and they interact with us, y'all might as well just welcome the next riot." "Man:" "Get back!" "Get back!" "♪♪" "♪♪" "Goldman:" "The only time we ever met was because of what happened that day, April 29th." "Watson:" "They woke us up." "You understand what I'm saying?" "I was a part of a movement, a black movement." "Moulin:" "It's not us against them." "This mentality that we're the police and we're always right is insanity." "♪♪" "Olmos:" "There's an outcry, an outpouring of discrimination and -- and prejudiced systems that just motivates people to rebel against it." "♪♪" "Murray:" "Each of us has a responsibility to make a decision." "Hwang:" "After everything I've gone through," "I wanted answers." "But all said and done," "I realize that when things happen, you either become bitter or a better human being." "I hope that people would realize we have to help each other through this journey." "[ People shouting ]" "Bartholomew:" "I never had a chance to meet and thank the guy who really helped me get back to my car." "Here it is 25 years later, and I'm finally gonna get a chance to meet him." "Goldman:" "Five years after the riots," "I decided I couldn't live in -- in L.A." "because, you know, my safety was in jeopardy." "And as long as I was around," "I believe my family's safety was in jeopardy, so I " " I decided to move away, and that was for everyone's protection." "This past few months," "I made the decision to return to Los Angeles, and I'm enjoying it." "[ Laughs ]" "Oh, hello." "Hey!" "How are you doing, man?" "Good to see you." "Hey." "Now I recognize you." "I look at you, and I see " " Yeah!" "Well, it's been -- I know it's been -- been awhile." "Wow." "[ Laughs ]" "But you've -- you've become quite the celebrity." "Well, and you, as well." "Wow." "I can't believe it." "I never could have made it to my car without your help." "Woman:" "Take his film!" "[ Laughs ]" "You know, I-I saw you walking down the street, and I said," ""Oh, he's gonna be in a lot of trouble."" "So, glad you got out of there just with the -- you know, with the small damage that you did get." "You know -- I was very lucky." "Hey!" "Hey, watch out!" "You consider Tim as a hero?" "'Cause you could have lost your life there, man." "Oh, without a doubt Tim's a hero." "He did save my life." "Yeah." "It's very cool." "Well, see, I'm glad you said that because, see, I got criticized by the media, by the police..." "No, you -- you saved my life." "...about not -- why was I continuing to record?" "And I-I told them -- I said, "You know, some things happen so fast." "You couldn't get in there." And like " "You didn't even know this was gonna happen." "You didn't know it was gonna happen." "You know, there's this a saying in the Torah " ""If you save one man's life, you save the world."" "♪♪" "Singleton:" "As Americans, we're all in this as a kind of collective." "What happened to Rodney King could happen to any citizen in this country, regardless of who they are and how they look." "And I think we've learned that we all can be marginalized by certain authoritarian figures." "Johnnie:" "Before the beating," "Rodney was real kind-hearted, loving, and giving." "You know, he was the most kind-hearted person I ever met." "Dispatcher:" "So, it's gonna be three male blacks in a vehicle." "It's a white Hyundai, I believe." "[ Helicopter blades whirring ]" "Rodney:" "I was scared for my life." "[ Camera shutter clicks ]" "I laid down real calmly and -- and took it like a man." "After the beating, it changed Rodney's life tremendously." "It changed his life." "Woman:" "Now, a month and a half later, word from King's ex-wife is that King is distraught, virtually a recluse, and may never fully recover from his injuries." "I was in pain, but, you know, you get beat so bad to where you don't feel it no more, you know?" "Johnnie:" "It was like he had a demon in him, and I think it was mainly the blows to his head." "And I know he would wake up in these nightmares -- 'cause it -- it used to scare me to be with him." "But I had to hang in there for him." "♪♪" "Kowalski:" "The conscience of the nation cried out for justice." "This verdict provides justice." "One year too late, but we got 'em." "L.A. will have peace!" "There will be no riots in the streets!" "Lerman:" "In the civil case, the City of Los Angeles decided to concede liability." "They just basically said, "Look, we did it." "We caused it." "Just put a dollar figure on it."" "They didn't want a second riot." "Man: $3,000,816.45 for the 1991 beating at the hands of four Los Angeles police officers." "Johnnie:" "Cynthia Kelley, being a juror in the federal case -- she was the only one that stuck up for Rodney." "I don't care what color you were." "You do not deserve to get beat like that." "I told the judge, "You know what?" "These people are not being fair." "They believe that $3.8 million is enough." "It's never gonna be enough 'cause this man's never gonna be the same the rest of his life." "The beating affected him, the publicity, the fame, and all the expectations that people put on him as a person now and having money." "Cynthia:" "Before I even met Rodney, I was a juror." "The day after the trial," "I got a phone call from his lawyer." "He said, "Hey, how are you today?"" "and, "I want to thank you for being on the trial." "But Mr. King wants to meet you."" "So then after that day, we just became friends forever." "Lerman:" "Rodney King's life was nothing like what he had expected." "Essentially, the money that he had been given was wasted, bad advisors that infiltrated his life." "The sadness of Rodney King was something palpable." "Johnnie:" "Towards the end of Rodney's Life," "Rodney had became very reckless." "He had been pushed deeper into the hole." "Cynthia:" "He would just wake up screaming and fighting in his sleep, you know, just having flashbacks of that beating." "Rodney King died at his house in the swimming pool." "They said he drowned." "I think he was very tired, very wore out, and it was time for him to leave." "♪♪" "Murray:" "When we look at Rodney King, it isn't about Rodney King." "It's about justice, equity, fairness." "Moulin: 25 years later," "I look at the conditions across our country right now, and -- and I'm thinking," ""We certainly didn't learn much in the last 25 years."" "Olmos:" "But you notice that every police department in the United States of America now is militarized." "[ High-pitched alarm beeping ]" "And they're really much stronger now." "[ Siren walls ]" "Johnnie:" "It's rare that you hear of a beating since Rodney King." "It's rare that you hear police done pulled somebody over and beat them and stomped them and kicked them." "Now they done roll up on you and just shoot." "Who will protect us from our protectors?" "These deadly police shootings sparking outrage and protests." "Our voices do matter!" "Don't touch me!" "We're tired of looking at that [bleep] on television." "He's down." "He's down." "He's down." "Every day." "I can't breathe." "I can't breathe." "Policeman:" "Put your hands behind your back right now." "I can't breathe." "It's not right." "I don't care how you look at it." "They sat there and watched my child die." "Reynolds:" "We got pulled over for a busted taillight in the back." "Policeman:" "I told him not to reach for it!" "I told him to get his hand off it!" "You told him to get his I.D., sir." "Murray:" "Wise man, I hold in my hand a bird." "In your wisdom, tell me -- is it alive..." "Man on P.A.:" "Clear the area." "Murray: ...or is it dead?" "The wise man -- he knew if he said the bird was dead..." "[ People shouting ] ...the young man would open his hands and let the bird fly free." "I have..." "I have..." "...a bright future!" "...a bright future!" "If he said the bird was alive, he would close his hands and crush the bird to death." "They're shooting!" "Murray:" "What is it, wise man?" "Is this bird alive, or is it dead?" "Man:" "Look at this community now!" "Is this what it's coming to, man?" "!" "It's in your hands, my son." "It's in your hands." "Say, "I am..."" "I am..." ""...a human being!" -...a human being!" ""I am..."" "I am..." ""...a human being!" -...a human being!" "Crowd:" "Hey, hey, ho, ho, these killer cops, they got to go!" "Say hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Put your hands up." "Don't shoot!" "Say hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Put your hands up." "Don't shoot!" "No peace!" "Man:" "No justice!" "No peace!" "Put your hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Put your hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "No peace!" "No justice!" "No peace!" "Put your hands up!" "Don't shoot!" "Put your hands up!" "Don't shoot!"