1992 RIOTS OF LOS ANGELES
Category |
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Riots. |
Account |
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On 29 April, at around 3:30 pm, following
the not guilty verdicts of four Los Angeles Police Officers
accused of beating an African American motorist Rodney
King, riots erupted at the intersection of Florence and
Normandy in South Central and East Los Angeles. It soon
spread throughout the whole city and continued until
4 May. |
Area affected |
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The city of Los Angeles |
Involved |
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Some 50,000 people rioted, of which 12,000
were arrested. |
Casualties |
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53 deaths and 2,300 hospitalised. |
Damage |
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1,120 building destroyed by fires, 2,314
stores looted and damaged , thousands of jobs lost, resulting
in $1 billion in damages. |
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HELP
BY BAPS ORGANISATION
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Centre
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BAPS centre in Los Angeles was involved with relief
operations.
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Area helped
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South Central and East Los Angeles.
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CLEAN UP
The magnitude of the riots was enormous. South Central and
East Los Angeles were the worst affected part of the city.
Fires raged; looting and destruction were widespread. The streets
were filled with debris, ash, broken furniture and glass. It
was a mess and an unsafe place to stay. BAPS volunteers provided
their services and were allotted areas to clean by local authorities.
Their task was to go out with brooms and shovels to clean the
streets and roads in order that traffic could move and life
could return to normal.
Everyday, throughout the day, for over two weeks, BAPS volunteers
cleaned the streets of South Central and East Los Angeles.
FOOD DISTRIBUTION
As most of the stores were looted and burnt, there was a massive
shortage of food in certain areas. BAPS volunteers located
the worst affected areas of Los Angeles and went to distribute
canned food, biscuits and water. Roughly 200 families benefited
by BAPS aid.
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