The 1992 Los Angeles riots were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted four Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit.
Some 53 people died, thousands were injured and $1 billion in damage was recorded during days of looting, assault and arson.
Full Coverage: LA Riots - 20 Years Later
Below is a timeline of major events of the LA Riots:
- April 29: Four officers were acquitted of assault; three were acquitted of using excessive force.
- April 29: The riots start the day the verdicts are read.
- April 29: Rioters beat and nearly kill truck driver Reginald Denny. Hundreds of arson and looting incidents begin. At the same intersection, just minutes after Denny was rescued, Fidel Lopez, a self-employed construction worker and Guatemalan immigrant, was pulled from his truck, robbed and beaten.
- April 30: Looting and fires reported across LA County. Korean community forms armed community teams in absence of police presence. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is imposed in large portions of the city of LA and the surrounding county. About 1,000 California National Guard troops are currently deployed "on the street," with over 1,000 more prepared to deploy and awaiting mission requests from law enforcement agencies.
- May 1: Live footage of Rodney King saying, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" Some 4,000 National Guard units and 1,700 federal officers from various agencies arrive in LA.
- May 2: Some 4,000 soldiers and Marines order crowds to disperse.
- May 3: LA Mayor Tom Bradley announces the crisis is over. National Guardsmen shoot and kill a motorist who tried to run them over at a barrier.
- May 4: Violence and crime breaks out sporadically. Schools, banks, and businesses reopen.
