Learned a shitload about the riots from watching this documentary and then even more additional stuff from wikipedia-ing it.
Couple things:
1. Had no idea that on that fateful night Rodney King had been leading police on a high-speed chase while being pretty pak'd. Always just thought it was a speeding ticket or something miniscule. Also had no idea that he'd had so much trouble with the law before and afterward. Arrested something like 11 times! Still didn't deserve the incredibly brutal treatment from
cops. I honestly cannot rough ridin' believe those cops got off.
2. Not all those cops got off in subsequent civil trials and Justice Department probes! Some got at least a little punishment, though clearly not as much as they deserved.
3. Didn't know there was such a race war between Blacks and Koreans during the riot. I mean......that footage of them having Old West-style gunfights in the parking lot of a jewelry store?!?!? INSANE! Didn't realize the basis of that hostility was
this horrifying incident right around the time that the Rodney King stuff was ALSO going down. Man. I would've rioted too.
4. Didn't know Ice-T's "Bodycount" group that released the song Cop Killa was essentially a punk band! Wasn't old enough to listen to that music at the time and had no idea he had crossed over genres. Weird.
