LA Protests Are Latest in a History of Street Battles
Two nights of violent street demonstrations over the police shooting of a Guatemalan-born day laborer is the legacy of long-simmering distrust between residents in an immigrant neighborhood west of downtown and a police department trying to shake off a dark legacy, experts said today....
And it was in keeping with Los Angeles' long history of civic unrest, from the Watts riots of the 1960s through the Rodney King riot in 1992 to occasional rambunctious, window-breaking street demonstrations that come with Los Angeles Lakers victories in the National Basketball League championship.
This week's protests began with the shooting death of Manuel Jamines, 37, around 1 p.m. Sunday by one of three bicycle-riding officers responding to reports that a man was threatening people with a knife. The Los Angeles Times reported that Jamines had been drinking. Police said one of the officers, Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran, fired twice at Jamines when he refused demands in English and Spanish to drop the knife and instead raised it over his head and moved toward the officers....
Here's a selected list of Los Angeles street confrontations over the past half-century:
August 1965: What should have been a routine traffic stop in Watts escalated into six days of rioting in which 34 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured....
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And it was in keeping with Los Angeles' long history of civic unrest, from the Watts riots of the 1960s through the Rodney King riot in 1992 to occasional rambunctious, window-breaking street demonstrations that come with Los Angeles Lakers victories in the National Basketball League championship.
This week's protests began with the shooting death of Manuel Jamines, 37, around 1 p.m. Sunday by one of three bicycle-riding officers responding to reports that a man was threatening people with a knife. The Los Angeles Times reported that Jamines had been drinking. Police said one of the officers, Frank Hernandez, a 13-year veteran, fired twice at Jamines when he refused demands in English and Spanish to drop the knife and instead raised it over his head and moved toward the officers....
Here's a selected list of Los Angeles street confrontations over the past half-century:
August 1965: What should have been a routine traffic stop in Watts escalated into six days of rioting in which 34 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured....