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Off-Ramp

Riots20: Stories from the LA Riots

By Off-Ramp Staff
Published Apr 23, 2012
People taking merchandise from J. C. Discount Outlet, located at 2101 W. Pico Blvd., during the riots of 1992. The security gate has been broken open. Photo date: April 30, 1992.
Fire fighters pour water on burning stores during the riots on April 30, 1992. A police car is in the foreground.
Fire fighters pour water on burning stores during the riots on April 30, 1992. A police car is in the foreground.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
A building is burning on a street near the intersection of Western Avenue on April 30, 1992, during the LA Riots.
A building is burning on a street near the intersection of Western Avenue on April 30, 1992, during the LA Riots.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
Police officers patrol a street as smoke billows out behind them on April 30, 1992.
Police officers patrol a street as smoke billows out behind them on April 30, 1992.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
File: A group of people hold up signs advocating changes in the Los Angeles Police Department during the LA Riots unrest on April 29, 1992.
A group of people hold up signs advocating changes in the Los Angeles Police Department during the LA Riots unrest on April 29, 1992.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
A soldier from the National Guard stands duty near City Hall on May 2, 1992, in what appears to be Little Tokyo.
A soldier from the National Guard stands duty near City Hall on May 2, 1992, in Little Tokyo.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
A $2 or Less store destroyed by fire during the LA Riots on April 30, 1992.
A $2 or Less store destroyed by fire during the LA Riots on April 30, 1992.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
An individual is being arrested by a Los Angeles policeman during the riots on May 2, 1992.
An man is being arrested by a Los Angeles policeman during the riots on May 2, 1992.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)
A man runs by a building going up in smoke during the LA Riots on April 30, 1992.
A man runs by a building going up in smoke during the LA Riots on April 30, 1992.
(
Gary Leonard/LAPL
)

About the Show

Over 11 years and 570 episodes, John Rabe and Team Off-Ramp scoured SoCal for the people, places, and ideas whose stories needed to be told, and the show became a love-letter to Los Angeles. Now, John is sharing selections from the Off-Ramp vault to help you explore this imperfect paradise.

Funding provided by:

Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Listen 6:27
Riots20: Stories from the LA Riots
We've collected memories from the 1992 LA Riots, which started April 29, 1992, with the acquittals of the LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King.

Over the last few months, KPCC has been talking with Angelenos about the 1992 riots, sparked by the acquittals of the LAPD officers accused of beating Rodney King and predicated on the documented historic abuse of blacks and Latinos by the LAPD. Some people, like the current head of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce, were far away, some were in the middle, like a little girl who remembers how hot the windows of her apartment got as riots burned a nearby building.

Our photos come from Gary Leonard, archived online at the L.A. Public Library. Leonard documented the riots himself, but also took along his 14-year-old son, who had his own camera. Their photos are featured at a new show that opens April 29th at Leonard's gallery in downtown Los Angeles.

Credits