I was born in Los Angeles as a Baby Boomer in the area now known as South Los Angeles, which in my high school days (and later) was simply known as Watts.
As some of you may recall, the summer of 1965 saw what became known as the Watts Riots. My friends and I were actually stupid enough to drive up there from my new environs in what’s called the South Bay (near San Pedro and Torrance). Luckily no one turned our car over or pulled us out to teach us a lesson.
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That was my first knowledge of Los Angeles being set fire by rioters, whom we now call protestors or activists.
The Rodney King arrest in 1992 sparked another set of riots, now euphemistically called demonstrations. Those protests over the arrest of Rodney King took place near the earlier Watts demonstrations but also spread north toward downtown Los Angeles.
To give some perspective, the Watts Riots were also sparked by the arrest of a black man by the name of Marquette Frye.
Currently, Los Angeles ia again filled with demonstrators, protestors, rioters, whatever you prefer to call them, and this time it is over the arrest of illegal aliens who are also known criminals. The rage is directed toward Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials carrying out the arrests, which of course would most likely lead to deportations.
Now, let me be a bit controversial here and say that these occurrences all had the same lightning rod — the arrest of individuals convicted of crimes or arrested for criminal acts.
And of course, one cannot forget George Floyd, whose arrest led to protests in 49 Southern California cities in 2020.
Now, if you still think, George Floyd died of asphyxiation (rather than a deadly meth-fentanyl combination), please visit my earlier post and then watch the video, “The Fall of Minneapolis.”