Watts riots
The Watts riots, sometimes referred to as the Watts Rebellion or Watts Uprising,[1] took place in the Watts neighborhood and its surrounding areas of Los Angeles from August 11 to 16, 1965. The riots were motivated by anger at the racist and abusive practices of the Los Angeles Police Department, as well as grievances over employment discrimination, residential segregation, and poverty in L.A.[2]
Watts riots
August 11–16, 1965
To end mistreatment by the police and to end discrimination in housing, employment, and schooling systems
Widespread rioting, looting, assault, arson, protests, firefights, and property damage
34
1,032
3,438
On August 11, 1965, Marquette Frye, a 21-year-old African-American man, was pulled over for drunken driving.[3][4][5] After he failed a field sobriety test, officers attempted to arrest him. Marquette resisted arrest, with assistance from his mother, Rena Frye; a physical confrontation ensued in which Marquette was struck in the face with a baton. Meanwhile, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.[3] Rumors spread that the police had kicked a pregnant woman who was present at the scene. Six days of civil unrest followed, motivated in part by allegations of police abuse.[4] Nearly 14,000 members of the California Army National Guard[6] helped suppress the disturbance, which resulted in 34 deaths,[7] as well as over $40 million in property damage.[8][9] It was the city's worst unrest until the Rodney King riots of 1992.
Inciting incident[edit]
On the evening of Wednesday, August 11, 1965, 21-year-old Marquette Frye, an African-American man driving his mother's 1955 Buick while drunk, was pulled over by California Highway Patrol rookie motorcycle officer Lee Minikus for alleged reckless driving.[5] After Frye failed a field sobriety test, Minikus placed him under arrest and radioed for his vehicle to be impounded.[20] Marquette's brother, Ronald, a passenger in the vehicle, walked to their house nearby, bringing their mother, Rena Price, back with him to the scene of the arrest.
When Rena Price reached the intersection of Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street that evening, she scolded Frye about drinking and driving as he recalled in a 1985 interview with the Orlando Sentinel.[21] However, the situation quickly escalated: someone shoved Price, Frye was struck, Price jumped an officer, and another officer pulled out a shotgun. Backup police officers attempted to arrest Frye by using physical force to subdue him. After community members reported that police had roughed up Frye and shared a rumor they had kicked a pregnant woman, angry mobs formed.[22][23] As the situation intensified, growing crowds of local residents watching the exchange began yelling and throwing objects at the police officers.[24]: 205 Frye's mother and brother fought with the officers and eventually were arrested along with Marquette Frye.[25][26][9][24]: 207
After the arrests of Price and her sons, the Frye brothers, the crowd continued to grow along Avalon Boulevard. Police came to the scene to break up the crowd several times that night, but were attacked when people threw rocks and chunks of concrete.[27] A 46-square-mile (120 km2) swath of Los Angeles was transformed into a combat zone during the ensuing six days.[23]