Los+Angeles+Race+Riots



==The riots began after a jury consisting of eleven whites and one Asian American found police officers not guilty of excessive force after the nation witnessed the videotape that showed the officers beating Rodney King who was an African American man who committed only a traffic violation. Minutes after the verdict was handed down furious crowds of people began to crowd the streets of Los Angeles. The main targets for the violence were whites and Koreans. This caused a domino effect across the entire country; riots began in Atlanta, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, Madison, Wisconsin, and Las Vegas, Nevada. ==

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==The riots lasted about three days when finally the U.S. government stepped in. They appointed prosecutors to investigate federal charges for the police officers in the trial for violating Mr. King’s civil rights. President Bush federalized the California National Guard and Rodney King went on television to plead the crowds for peace. == ==The LA riots were the bloodiest conflict since the civil war in the end about 54 people lost their lives; over 2,328 people were rushed to hospital emergency rooms. Thousands of businesses were burned and about $1 billion worth of property was destroyed. == ==In the end two of the officers were sentenced to two and a half years in jail and Rodney King was given several millions of dollars in damages. ==