This clip comes from a 1991 broadcast of ABC World News tonight with Peter Jennings. It is an early news account of the beating of Rodney King, an African American male who was pulled over by the LAPD and became the victim of police brutality. The altercation was caught on tape by a pedestrian with a video camera.

discussion

What do you know about the incidents commonly referred to as the “LA Riots”?

Why do you think the Rodney King verdict spurred the civil unrest of 1992?

What was the role of race in the incidents?