LA protests far different from '92 Rodney King riots
Earlier DU thread: "MORE TROUBLE IN L.A. AFTER LAKERS WON, THAN THIS PAST SUNDAY - 6.10.25" countdown
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Source: Associated Press
LA protests far different from ’92 Rodney King riots
By BRIAN MELLEY
Updated 12:37 PM EDT, June 10, 2025
The images of cars set ablaze, protesters tossing rocks at police and officers firing nonlethal rounds and tear gas at protesters hearkens back to the last time a president sent the National Guard to respond to violence on Los Angeles streets.
But the unrest during several days of protests over immigration enforcement is far different in scale from the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of white police officers who were videotaped beating Black motorist Rodney King.
President George H.W. Bush used the Insurrection Act to call in the National Guard after requests from Mayor Tom Bradley and Gov. Pete Wilson. After the current protests began Friday over Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids, President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of 4,100 National Guard troops and 700 Marines despite strident opposition from Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
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Unlike the 1992 riots, protests have mainly been peaceful and been confined to a roughly five-block stretch of downtown LA, a tiny patch in the sprawling city of nearly 4 million people. No one has died. There’s been vandalism and some cars set on fire but no homes or buildings have burned.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/rodney-king-riots-national-guard-los-angeles-69114889118a85f8f29c4d76c076a45f