1992 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
With their first pick, the Dodgers selected Catcher Ryan Luzinsky from Holy Cross High School. The son of former Major Leaguer Greg Luzinski, he was a promising power hitter when he spurned a letter of intent with the University of Miami to sign with the Dodgers. However, he never quite lived up to his promise. Blocked by Mike Piazza's ascent with the Dodgers, he bounced around the teams farm system until a trade to the Baltimore Orioles in 1997. In eight minor league seasons, he hit .265 with 49 home runs and 296 RBI but could never make the move from AAA to the Majors.


1992 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
The other first round pick, outfielder Mike Moore from UCLA also failed to advance, he hit .242 in 912 big league games over 14 seasons (six of which were in the independent leagues).


1992 Los Angeles Dodgers season, Major League Baseball Draft
The only player from this draft class to make the Majors was infielder Keith Johnson from the University of the Pacific. He appeared in six games for the 2000 Anaheim Angels and had two hits in four at-bats. He would later become a AAA manager in the Angels system for the Salt Lake Bees.


1992 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
The 18th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, honoring the best in film for 1992, were given on 12 December 1992.


1992 Los Angeles Raiders season
The 1992 Los Angeles Raiders season was their 33rd in the National Football League (NFL). They were unable to improve upon their previous season's output of 9–7, winning only seven games. This was the first time in three seasons the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.


1992 Los Angeles Rams season
The 1992 Los Angeles Rams season was the team's 55th year with the National Football League and the 47th season in Los Angeles. In a scheduling quirk, the Rams' first four opponents were all AFC East teams. The Rams' final twelve games were against only NFC teams.


1992 Los Angeles Rams season
According to Football Outsiders, the 1992 Rams had the second-worst run-defense they had ever tracked. The Rams allowed 383 points, the second most in the league in 1992. The Rams were also second-worst in the league in total allowed yards (5,523), allowed rushing yards (2,230), and yards per rushing attempt (4.8).


1992 Los Angeles Rams season
The Rams' first four games were vs. the AFC East, the first time a team played four inter-conference games to begin a season since the AFL-NFL merger. This was repeated two years later by the Kansas City Chiefs.


1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County in April and May 1992. Unrest began in South Central Los Angeles on April 29, after a jury acquitted four officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) charged with using excessive force in the arrest and beating of Rodney King. This incident had been videotaped and widely shown in television broadcasts.


1992 Los Angeles riots
The rioting took place in several areas in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, as thousands of people rioted over six days after the verdict's announcement but were concentrated in the South Central area. Widespread looting, assault, and arson occurred during the riots, which local police forces had difficulty controlling due to lack of personnel and resources. The situation in the Los Angeles area was resolved only after the California National Guard, United States military, and several federal law enforcement agencies were deployed to assist in ending the violence and unrest.


1992 Los Angeles riots
By the time the riots ended, 63 people had been killed, 2,383 had been injured, more than 12,000 had been arrested, and estimates of property damage were over $1 billion. Koreatown, where the bulk of the rioting in South Central Los Angeles occurred, received disproportionately more damage than surrounding areas. LAPD Chief of Police Daryl Gates, who had already announced his resignation by the time of the riots, was attributed with much of the blame for failure to de-escalate the situation and overall mismanagement.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Police–community relations
Before the release of the Rodney King tape, minority community leaders in Los Angeles had repeatedly complained about harassment and use of excessive force against their residents by LAPD officers. Daryl Gates, Chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) from 1978 to 1992, has been attributed with much of the blame for the riots. According to one study, "scandalous racist violence... marked the LAPD under Gates’s tempestuous leadership." Under Gates, the LAPD had begun Operation Hammer in April 1987, which was a large-scale attempt to crack down on gang violence in Los Angeles.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Police–community relations
The origin of Operation Hammer can be traced to the 1984 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles. Under Gates's direction, the LAPD expanded gang sweeps for the duration of the Olympics. These were implemented across wide areas of the city but especially in South Central and East Los Angeles, areas of predominately minority residents. After the games were over, the city began to revive the use of earlier anti-syndicalist laws in order to maintain the security policy started for the Olympic games. The police more frequently conducted mass arrests of African American youth, although the overwhelming number of them were never charged. Citizen complaints against police brutality increased 33 percent in the period 1984 to 1989.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Police–community relations
By 1990 more than 50,000 people, mostly minority males, had been arrested in such raids. During this period, the LAPD arrested more young black men and women than at any period of time since the Watts riots of 1965. Critics have alleged that the operation was racist because it used racial profiling, targeting African-American and Mexican American youths. The perception that police had targeted non-White citizens likely contributed to the anger that erupted in the 1992 riots.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Police–community relations
The Christopher Commission later concluded that a "significant number" of LAPD officers "repetitively use excessive force against the public and persistently ignore the written guidelines of the department regarding force." The biases related to race, gender, and sexual orientation were found to have regularly contributed to excessive force use. The commission's report called for the replacement of both Chief Daryl Gates and the civilian Police Commission.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Ethnic tensions
In the year before the riots, 1991, there was growing resentment and violence between the African-American and Korean-American communities. Racial tensions had been simmering for years between these groups. In 1989, the release of Spike Lee's film Do the Right Thing highlighted urban tensions between white people, black people and Koreans over racism and economic inequality. Many Korean shopkeepers were upset because they suspected shoplifting from their Black customers and neighbors. Many Black customers were angry because they routinely felt disrespected and humiliated by Korean store owners. Neither group fully understood the extent or sheer enormity of the cultural differences and language barriers, which further fueled tensions.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Ethnic tensions
On March 16, 1991, a year before the Los Angeles riots, storekeeper Soon Ja Du shot and killed Black ninth-grader Latasha Harlins after a physical altercation. Du was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and the jury recommended the maximum sentence of 16 years, but the judge, Joyce Karlin, decided against prison time and sentenced Du to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service, and a $500 fine instead. Relations between the African-American and Korean communities significantly worsened after this, and the former became increasingly mistrustful of the criminal justice system. A state appeals court later unanimously upheld Judge Karlin's sentencing decision in April 1992, a week before the riots.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Ethnic tensions
The Los Angeles Times reported on several other significant incidents of violence between the communities at the time:


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Ethnic tensions
Other recent incidents include the May 25, [1991] shooting of two employees in a liquor store near 35th Street and Central Avenue. The victims, both recent emigrants from Korea, were killed after complying with robbery demands made by an assailant described by police as an African-American. Last Thursday, an African-American man suspected of committing a robbery in an auto parts store on Manchester Avenue was fatally wounded by his accomplice, who accidentally fired a shotgun round during a struggle with the shop's Korean-American owner. "This violence is disturbing, too," store owner Park said. "But who cries for these victims?


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
On the evening of March 3, 1991, Rodney King and two passengers were driving west on the Foothill Freeway (I-210) through the Sunland-Tujunga neighborhood of the San Fernando Valley. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) attempted to initiate a traffic stop and a high-speed pursuit ensued with speeds estimated at up to 115 mph (185 km/h), before King eventually exited the freeway at Foothill Boulevard. The pursuit continued through residential neighborhoods of Lake View Terrace in San Fernando Valley before King stopped in front of the Hanson Dam recreation center. When King finally stopped, LAPD and CHP officers surrounded King's vehicle and married CHP officers Timothy and Melanie Singer arrested him and two other car occupants.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
After the two passengers were placed in the patrol car, five Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers – Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, and Rolando Solano – surrounded King, who came out of the car last. The officers involved were all White American, although Briseno and Solano were of Hispanic origin. They tasered him, struck him dozens of times with side-handled batons, kick stomped him in his back and tackled him to the ground before handcuffing him and hogtying his legs.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
Sergeant Koon later testified at trial that King resisted arrest and believed King was under the influence of PCP at the time of the arrest caused him to be very aggressive and violent toward the officers. Video footage of the arrest showed that King attempted to get up each time he was struck and that the police made no attempt to cuff him until he lay still. A subsequent test of King for the presence of PCP in his body at the time of the arrest was negative.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
Unbeknownst to the police and King, the incident was captured on a camcorder by local civilian George Holliday from his nearby apartment across from Hansen Dam. The tape was roughly 12 minutes long. While the tape was presented during the trial, some clips of the incident were not released to the public. In a later interview, King, who was on parole for a robbery conviction and had past convictions for assault, battery and robbery, said that he had not surrendered earlier because he was driving while intoxicated under the influence of alcohol, which he knew violated the terms of his parole.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
The footage of King being beaten by police became an instant focus of media attention and a rallying point for activists in Los Angeles and around the United States. Coverage was extensive during the first two weeks after the incident: the Los Angeles Times published 43 articles about it, The New York Times published 17 articles, and the Chicago Tribune published 11 articles. Eight stories appeared on ABC News, including a sixty-minute special on Primetime Live.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
Upon watching the tape of the beating, LAPD chief of police Daryl Gates said:


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Rodney King incident
I stared at the screen in disbelief. I played the one-minute-50-second tape again. Then again and again, until I had viewed it 25 times. And still I could not believe what I was looking at. To see my officers engage in what appeared to be excessive use of force, possibly criminally excessive, to see them beat a man with their batons 56 times, to see a sergeant on the scene who did nothing to seize control, was something I never dreamed I would witness.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Charges and trial
The Los Angeles County District Attorney subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force. Due to the extensive media coverage of the arrest, the trial received a change of venue from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County. The jury had no members who were entirely African-American. The jury was composed of nine white Americans (three women, six men), one bi-racial man, one Latin American woman, and one Asian-American woman. The prosecutor, Terry White, was African-American.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Charges and trial
On April 29, 1992, the seventh day of jury deliberations, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force. The verdicts were based in part on the first three seconds of a blurry, 13-second segment of the videotape that, according to journalist Lou Cannon, had not been aired by television news stations in their broadcasts.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Charges and trial
The first two seconds of videotape, contrary to the claims made by the accused officers, show King attempting to flee past Laurence Powell. During the next one minute and 19 seconds, King is beaten continuously by the officers. The officers testified that they tried to restrain King before the videotape's starting point physically, but King could throw them off physically.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Charges and trial
Afterward, the prosecution suggested that the jurors may have acquitted the officers because of becoming desensitized to the beating's violence, as the defense played the videotape repeatedly in slow motion, breaking it down until its emotional impact was lost.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Background, Charges and trial
Outside the Simi Valley courthouse where the acquittals were delivered, county sheriff's deputies protected Stacey Koon from angry protesters on the way to his car. Movie director John Singleton, who was in the crowd at the courthouse, predicted, "By having this verdict, what these people done, they lit the fuse to a bomb."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events
The riots began the day the verdicts were announced and peaked in intensity over the next two days. A dusk-to-dawn curfew and deployment by The California National Guard, U.S. troops, and Federal law enforcement personnel eventually controlled the situation.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events
A total of 64 people died during the riots, including nine shot by law enforcement personnel and one by the National Guard. Of those killed during the riots, 2 were Asian, 28 were Black, 19 were Latino, and 15 were White. No law enforcement officials died during the riots. As many as 2,383 people were reported injured. Estimates of the material losses vary between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points. Widespread looting also occurred. Rioters targeted stores owned by Koreans and other ethnic Asians, reflecting tensions between them and the African-American communities.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events
Many of the disturbances were concentrated in South Central Los Angeles, where the population was majority African-American and Hispanic. Fewer than half of all the riot arrests and a third of those killed during the violence were Hispanic.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events
The riots caused the Emergency Broadcast System and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to be activated on April 30, 1992, on KCAL-TV.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Prior to the verdicts
In the week before the Rodney King verdicts were reached, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates set aside $1 million for possible police overtime. Even so, on the last day of the trial, two-thirds of the LAPD's patrol captains were out of town in Ventura, California, on the first day of a three-day training seminar.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Prior to the verdicts
At 1 p.m. on April 29, Judge Stanley Weisberg announced that the jury had reached its verdict, which would be read in two hours' time. This was done to allow reporters and police and other emergency responders to prepare for the outcome, as unrest was feared if the officers were acquitted. The LAPD had activated its Emergency Operations Center, which the Webster Commission described as "the doors were opened, the lights turned on and the coffee pot plugged in", but taken no other preparatory action. Specifically, the people intended to staff that Center were not gathered until 4:45 p.m. In addition, no action was taken to retain extra personnel at the LAPD's shift change at 3 p.m., as the risk of trouble was deemed low.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Verdicts announced
The acquittals of the four accused Los Angeles Police Department officers came at 3:15 p.m. local time. By 3:45 p.m., a crowd of more than 300 people had appeared at the Los Angeles County Courthouse protesting the verdicts.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Verdicts announced
Meanwhile, at approximately 4:15–4:20 p.m., a group of people approached the Pay-Less Liquor and Deli on Florence Avenue just west of Normandie in South Central. In an interview, a member of the group said that the group "just decided they weren't going to pay for what they were getting." The store owner's son was hit with a bottle of beer, and two other youths smashed the store's glass front door. Two officers from the 77th Street Division of the LAPD responded to this incident and, finding that the instigators had already left, completed a report.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Mayor Bradley speaks
At 4:58 p.m., Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley held a news conference to discuss the verdicts. He both expressed anger about the verdicts and appealed for calm.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Mayor Bradley speaks
"Today, this jury told the world that what we all saw with our own eyes wasn't a crime. Today, that jury asked us to accept the senseless and brutal beating of a helpless man. Today, that jury said we should tolerate such conduct by those sworn to protect and serve. My friends, I am here to tell this jury, "No. No, our eyes did not deceive us. We saw what we saw what we saw was a crime... We must not endanger the reforms we have achieved by resorting to mindless acts. We must not push back progress by striking back blindly."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Mayor Bradley speaks
Assistant Los Angeles police chief Bob Vernon later said he believed Bradley's remarks incited a riot and were perhaps taken as a signal by some citizens. Vernon said that the number of police incidents rose in the hour after the mayor's press conference.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Police intervention at 71st and Normandie
At Florence and Halldale, two officers issued a plea for assistance in apprehending a young suspect who had thrown an object at their car and whom they were pursuing on foot. Approximately two dozen officers, commanded by 77th Street Division LAPD officer Lieutenant Michael Moulin, arrived and arrested the youth, 16-year old Seandel Daniels, forcing him into the back of a car. The rough handling of the young man, a well known minor in the community, further agitated an uneasy and growing crowd, who began taunting and berating the police. Among the crowd were Bart Bartholomew, a white freelance photographer for The New York Times, and Timothy Goldman, a black U.S. Air Force veteran in visit to his family, who began to record the events with his personal camcorder.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Police intervention at 71st and Normandie
The police formed a perimeter around the arresting officers as the crowd grew more hostile, leading to further altercations and arrests (including that of Damian Williams' older brother, Mark Jackson). One member of the crowd stole the flashlight of an LAPD officer. Fearing police would resort to deadly force to repel the growing crowd, Lieutenant Moulin ordered officers out of the area altogether. Moulin later said that officers on the scene were outnumbered and unprepared to handle the situation because their riot equipment was stored at the police academy.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Police intervention at 71st and Normandie
Hey, forget the flashlight, it's not worth it. It ain't worth it. It's not worth it. Forget the flashlight. Not worth it. Let's go.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Police intervention at 71st and Normandie
Moulin made the call for reporting officers to retreat from the 71st and Normandie area entirely at approximately 5:50 p.m. They were sent to an RTD bus depot at 54th and Arlington and told to await further instructions. The command post formed at this location was set up at approximately 6 p.m., but had no cell phones or computers other than those in squad cars. It had insufficient numbers of telephone lines and handheld police radios to assess and respond to the situation. Finally, the site had no televisions, which meant that as live broadcasts of unrest began, command post officers could not see any of the coverage.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Unrest moves at Florence and Normandie
After the retreat of officers at 71st and Normandie, many proceeded one block south to the intersection of Florence and Normandie. As the crowd began to turn physically dangerous,  Bartholomew managed to flee the scene with the help of Goldman. Someone hit Bartholomew with a wood plank, shattering his jaw, while others pounded him and grabbed his camera. Just after 6 p.m., a group of young men broke the padlock and windows to Tom's Liquor, allowing a group of more than 100 people to raid the store and loot it.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Unrest moves at Florence and Normandie
Concurrently, the growing number of rioters in the street began attacking civilians of non-black appearance, throwing debris at their cars, pulling them from their vehicles when they stopped, smashing window shops, or assaulting them while they walked on the sidewalks. As Goldman continued to film the scene on the ground with his camcorder, the Los Angeles News Service team of Marika Gerrard and Zoey Tur arrived in a news helicopter, broadcasting from the air. The LANS feed appeared live on numerous Los Angeles television venues.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Unrest moves at Florence and Normandie
At approximately 6:15 p.m., as reports of vandalism, looting, and physical attacks continued to come in, Moulin elected to "take the information" but not to respond or send personnel to restore order or rescue people in the area. Moulin was relieved by a captain, ordered only to assess the Florence and Normandie area, and, again, not to attempt to deploy officers there. Meanwhile, Tur continued to cover the events in progress live at the intersection. From overhead, Tur described the police presence at the scene around 6:30 p.m. as "none".


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Larry Tarvin
At 6:43 p.m., a white truck driver, Larry Tarvin, drove down Florence and stopped at a red light at Normandie in a large white delivery truck. With no radio in his truck, he did not know that he was driving into a riot. Tarvin was pulled from the vehicle by a group of men including Henry Watson, who proceeded to kick and beat him, before striking him unconscious with a fire extinguisher taken from his own vehicle. He lay unconscious for more than a minute as his truck was looted, before getting up and staggering back to his vehicle.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Larry Tarvin
With the help of an unknown African-American, Tarvin drove his truck out of further harm's way. Just before he did so, another truck, driven by Reginald Denny, entered the intersection. United Press International Radio Network reporter Bob Brill, who was filming the attack on Tarvin, was hit in the head with a bottle and stomped on.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Reginald Denny
Reginald Denny, a white construction truck driver, was pulled from his truck and severely beaten by a group of black men who came to be known as the "L.A. Four". The attack was recorded on video from Tur's and Gerrard's news helicopter, and broadcast live on U.S. national television. Goldman captured the end of the attack and a close-up of Denny's bloody face.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Reginald Denny
Four other L.A. residents came to Denny's aid, placing him back in his truck, in which one of the rescuers drove him to the hospital. Denny suffered a fractured skull and impairment of his speech and ability to walk, for which he underwent years of rehabilitative therapy. After unsuccessfully suing the City of Los Angeles, Denny moved to Arizona, where he worked as an independent boat mechanic and has mostly avoided media contact.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Fidel Lopez
Around 7:40 p.m., almost an hour after Denny was rescued, another beating was filmed on videotape in that location. Fidel Lopez, a self-employed construction worker and Guatemalan immigrant mistaken by the crowd to be White American, was pulled from his GMC pickup truck and robbed of nearly $2,000. Rioters, including Damian Williams, smashed his forehead open with a car stereo and one tried to slice his ear off. After Lopez lost consciousness, the crowd spray-painted his chest, torso, and genitals black. He was eventually rescued by black Reverend Bennie Newton, who told the rioters: "Kill him, and you have to kill me too." Lopez survived the attack, but it took him years to fully recover and re-establish his business. Newton and Lopez became close friends.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Fidel Lopez
Sunset on the first evening of the riots was at 7:36 p.m.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Fidel Lopez
The first call reporting a fire came in soon after, at approximately 7:45 p.m. Police did not return in force to Florence and Normandie until 8:30 p.m., by which time the intersection was in ruins and most rioters had left to other nearby intersections and shopping centers in the area, with rioting and looting spreading across the rest of South Central Los Angeles once word spread of the situation at Florence and Normandie, as by nightfall the neighborhoods of Crenshaw, Hyde Park, Jefferson Park, West Adams, Westmont, Green Meadows, Historic South Central, Florence, Willowbrook, Florence-Graham and Watts were being looted, vandalized and set ablaze by rioters.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Attack on Fidel Lopez
Numerous factors were later blamed for the severity of rioting in the 77th Street Division on the evening of April 29. These included:


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Parker Center
As noted, after the verdicts were announced, a crowd of protesters formed at the Los Angeles police headquarters at Parker Center in Downtown Los Angeles. The crowd grew as the afternoon passed, and became violent. The police formed a skirmish line to protect the building, sometimes moving back in the headquarters as protesters advanced, attempting to set the Parker Center ablaze. In the midst of this, before 6:30 p.m., police chief Daryl Gates left Parker Center, on his way to the neighborhood of Brentwood.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Parker Center
There, as the situation in Los Angeles deteriorated, Gates attended a political fundraiser against Los Angeles City Charter Amendment F, intended to "give City Hall more power over the police chief and provide more civilian review of officer misconduct". The amendment would limit the power and term length of his office.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Parker Center
The Parker Center crowd grew riotous at approximately 9 p.m., eventually making their way through the Civic Center, attacking law enforcement, overturning vehicles, setting objects ablaze, vandalizing government buildings and blocking traffic on U.S. Route 101 going through other nearby districts in downtown Los Angeles looting and burning stores. Nearby Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) firefighters were shot at while trying to put out a blaze set by looters.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Parker Center
The mayor had requested the California Army National Guard from Governor Pete Wilson; the first of these units, the 670th Military Police Company, had traveled almost 300 miles (480 km) from its main armory and arrived in the afternoon to assist local police. They were first deployed to a police command center, where they began handing out bulletproof vests to the firefighters after encountering the unit whose member had been shot. Later, after receiving ammunition from the L.A. Police Academy and a local gun store, the MPs deployed to hold the Martin Luther King Shopping Mall in Watts.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 1 – Wednesday, April 29, Lake View Terrace
In the Lake View Terrace district of Los Angeles, 200–400 protesters gathered about 9:15 p.m. at the site where Rodney King was beaten in 1991, near the Hansen Dam Recreation Area. The group marched south on Osborne Street to the LAPD Foothill Division headquarters. There they began rock throwing, shooting into the air, and setting fires. The Foothill division police used riot-breaking techniques to disperse the crowd and arrest those responsible for rock throwing and the fires eventually leading to rioting and looting in the neighboring area of Pacoima and its surrounding neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30
Mayor Bradley signed an order for a dusk-to-dawn curfew at 12:15 a.m. for the core area affected by the riots, as well as declaring a state of emergency for city of Los Angeles. At 10:15 a.m., he expanded the area under curfew. By mid-morning, violence appeared widespread and unchecked as extensive looting and arson were witnessed across Los Angeles County. Rioting moved from South Central Los Angeles, going north through  Central Los Angeles decimating the neighborhoods of Koreatown, Westlake, Pico-Union, Echo Park, Hancock Park, Fairfax, Mid-City and Mid-Wilshire before reaching Hollywood.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30
The looting and fires engulfed Hollywood Boulevard, and simultaneously rioting moved West and South into the neighboring independent cities of Inglewood, Hawthorne, Gardena,  Compton, Carson and Long Beach, as well as moving East from South Central Los Angeles into the cities of Huntington Park, Walnut Park, South Gate and Lynwood and  Paramount. Looting and vandalism had also gone as far South as Los Angeles regions of the Harbor Area in the neighborhoods of San Pedro, Wilmington, and Harbor City.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Destruction of Koreatown
Koreatown is a roughly 2.7 square-mile (7 square kilometre) neighborhood between Hoover Street and Western Avenue, and 3rd Street and Olympic Boulevard, west of MacArthur Park and east of Hancock Park/Windsor Square. Korean immigrants had begun settling in the Mid-Wilshire area in the 1960s after the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. It was here that many opened successful businesses.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Destruction of Koreatown
As the riots spread, roads between Koreatown and wealthy white neighborhoods were blocked off by police and official defense lines were set up around the independent cities such as Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, as well as middle-upper class white neighborhoods west of Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles. A Korean-American resident later told reporters: "It was containment. The police cut off Koreatown traffic, while we were trapped on the other side without help. Those roads are a gateway to a richer neighborhood. It can't be denied." Some Koreans later said they did not expect law enforcement to come to their aid.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Destruction of Koreatown
The lack of law enforcement forced Koreatown civilians to organize their own armed security teams, mainly composed of store owners, to defend their businesses from rioters. Many had military experience from serving in the Republic of Korea Armed Forces before emigrating to the United States. Open gun battles were televised, including an incident in which Korean shopkeepers armed with M1 carbines, Ruger Mini-14s, pump-action shotguns, and handguns exchanged gunfire with a group of armed looters, and forced their retreat. But there were casualties, such as 18-year-old Edward Song Lee, whose body can be seen lying in the street in images taken by photojournalist Hyungwon Kang.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Destruction of Koreatown
After events in Koreatown, the 670th MP Company from National City, California were redeployed to reinforce police patrols guarding the Korean Cultural Center and the Consulate-General of South Korea in Los Angeles.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Destruction of Koreatown
Out of the $850 million worth of damage done in L.A., half of it was on Korean-owned businesses because most of Koreatown was looted and destroyed. The effects of the riots, which displaced Korean Americans and destroyed their sources of income, and the little aid given to those who suffered, still affected LA-based Koreans in 2017, as they struggled with economic hardship created by the riots.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Mid-town containment
The LAPD and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) organized response began to come together by mid-day. The LAFD and Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) began to respond backed by police escort; California Highway Patrol reinforcements were airlifted to the city. U.S. President George H. W. Bush spoke out against the rioting, saying "anarchy" would not be tolerated.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Mid-town containment
The California Army National Guard, which had been advised not to expect civil disturbance and had, as a result, loaned its riot equipment out to other law enforcement agencies, responded quickly by calling up about 2,000 soldiers, but could not get them to the city until nearly 24 hours had passed. They lacked equipment and had to pick it up from the JFTB (Joint Forces Training Base), Los Alamitos, California, which at the time was mainly a mothballed former airbase.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Mid-town containment
Air traffic control procedures at Los Angeles International Airport were modified, with all departures and arrivals routed to and from the west, over the Pacific Ocean, avoiding overflights of neighborhoods affected by the rioting.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Mid-town containment
Bill Cosby spoke on the local television station KNBC and asked people to stop the rioting and watch the final episode of his The Cosby Show. The U.S. Justice Department announced it would resume federal investigation of the Rodney King beating as a violation of federal civil rights law.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 2 – Thursday, April 30, Mid-town containment
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, who criticized rioters for burning down their own neighborhoods, received death threats and was taken to the Los Angeles Police Academy for protection.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
In the early morning hours of Friday, May 1, the major rioting was stopped. Rodney King gave an impromptu news conference in front of his lawyer's office, tearfully saying, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" That morning, at 1:00 am, Governor Wilson had requested federal assistance. Upon request, Bush invoked the Insurrection Act with Executive Order 12804, federalizing the California Army National Guard and authorizing federal troops and federal law enforcement officers to help restore law and order. With Bush's authority, the Pentagon activated Operation Garden Plot, placing the California Army National Guard and federal troops under the newly formed Joint Task Force Los Angeles (JTF-LA). The deployment of federal troops was not ready until Saturday, by which time the rioting and looting were under control.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
Meanwhile, the 40th Infantry Division (doubled to 4,000 troops) of the California Army National Guard continued to move into the city in Humvees; eventually 10,000 Army National Guard troops were activated. That same day, 1,000 federal tactical officers from different agencies across California were dispatched to L.A. to protect federal facilities and assist local police. This was the first federal law enforcement response to a civil disorder in any U.S. city since the Ole Miss riot of 1962. Later that evening, Bush addressed the country, denouncing "random terror and lawlessness".


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
He summarized his discussions with Mayor Bradley and Governor Wilson, and outlined the federal assistance he was making available to local authorities. Citing the "urgent need to restore order", he warned that the "brutality of a mob" would not be tolerated, and he would "use whatever force is necessary". He referred to the Rodney King case, describing talking to his own grandchildren and noting the actions of "good and decent policemen" as well as civil rights leaders.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
He said he had directed the Justice Department to investigate the King case, and that "grand jury action is underway today", and justice would prevail. The Post Office announced that it was unsafe for their couriers to deliver mail. The public were instructed to pick up their mail at the main Post Office. The lines were approximately 40 blocks long, and the California National Guard were diverted to that location to ensure peace.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
By this point, many entertainment and sports events were postponed or canceled. The Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA playoff basketball game on the night the rioting started. The following game was still postponed until Sunday and moved to Las Vegas. The Los Angeles Clippers moved a playoff game against the Utah Jazz to nearby Anaheim. In baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers postponed games for four straight days from Thursday to Sunday, including a whole three-game series against the Montreal Expos; all were made up as part of doubleheaders in July. In San Francisco, a city curfew due to unrest forced the postponement of a May 1, San Francisco Giants home game against the Philadelphia Phillies.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 3 – Friday, May 1
The horse racing venues Hollywood Park Racetrack and Los Alamitos Race Course were also shut down. L.A. Fiesta Broadway, a major event in the Latino community, was canceled. In music, Van Halen canceled two concert shows in Inglewood on Saturday and Sunday. Metallica and Guns N' Roses were forced to postpone and relocate their concert to the Rose Bowl as the LA Coliseum and its surrounding neighborhood were still damaged. Michael Bolton canceled his scheduled performance at the Hollywood Bowl Sunday. The World Wrestling Federation canceled events on Friday and Saturday in the cities of Long Beach and Fresno. By the end of Friday night, the riots were completely quelled.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 4 – Saturday, May 2
On the fourth day, 3,500 federal troops — 2,000 soldiers of the 7th Infantry Division from Fort Ord and 1,500 Marines of the 1st Marine Division from Camp Pendleton — arrived to reinforce the National Guard soldiers already in the city. The Marine Corps contingent included the 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, commanded by John F. Kelly.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 4 – Saturday, May 2
It was the first significant military occupation of Los Angeles by federal troops since the 1894 Pullman Strike, and also the first federal military intervention in an American city to quell a civil disorder since the 1968 King assassination riots, and the first deadliest modern unrest since the 1980 Miami riots at the time, only 12 years earlier.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 4 – Saturday, May 2
These federal military forces took 24 hours to deploy to Huntington Park, about the same time it took for the National Guard. This brought total troop strength to 13,500, making L.A. the largest military occupation of any U.S. city since the 1968 Washington, D.C. riots. Federal troops joined National Guard soldiers to support local police in restoring order directly; the combined force contributed significantly to preventing violence. With most of the violence under control, 30,000 people attended an 11 a.m. peace rally in Koreatown to support local merchants and racial healing.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 5 – Sunday, May 3
Mayor Bradley assured the public that the crisis was, more or less, under control as areas became quiet. Later that night, Army National Guard soldiers shot and killed a motorist who tried to run them over at a barrier.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Day 5 – Sunday, May 3
In another incident, the LAPD and Marines intervened in a domestic dispute in Compton, in which the suspect held his wife and children hostage. As the officers approached, the suspect fired two shotgun rounds through the door, injuring some of the officers. One of the officers yelled to the Marines, "Cover me," as per law enforcement training to be prepared to fire if necessary. However, per their military training, the Marines interpreted the wording as providing cover by establishing a base of firepower, resulting in a total of 200 rounds being sprayed into the house. Remarkably, neither the suspect nor the woman and children inside the house were harmed.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Events, Aftermath
Although Mayor Bradley lifted the curfew, signaling the official end of the riots, sporadic violence and crime continued for a few days afterward. Schools, banks, and businesses reopened. Federal troops did not stand down until May 9. The Army National Guard remained until May 14. Some National Guard soldiers remained as late as May 27.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
Many Korean Americans in Los Angeles refer to the event as 'Sa-I-Gu', meaning "four-two-nine" in the Korean language (4.29), in reference to April 29, 1992, which was the day the riots started. Over 2,300 mom-and-pop shops run by Korean business owners were damaged through ransacking and looting during the riots, sustaining close to $400 million in damages.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
During the riots, Korean Americans received very little aid or protection from police authorities, due to their low social status and language barriers. Many Koreans rushed to Koreatown after Korean-language radio stations called for volunteers to guard against rioters. Many were armed, with a variety of improvised weapons, handguns, shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
David Joo, a gun store manager, said, "I want to make it clear that we didn't open fire first. At that time, four police cars were there. Somebody started to shoot at us. The LAPD ran away in half a second. I never saw such a fast escape. I was pretty disappointed." Carl Rhyu, also a participant in the Koreans' armed response, said, "If it was your own business and your own property, would you be willing to trust it to someone else? We are glad the National Guard is here. They're good backup.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
But when our shops were burning we called the police every five minutes; no response." At a shopping center several miles north of Koreatown, Jay Rhee, who said he and others fired five hundred shots into the ground and air, said, "We have lost our faith in the police. Where were you when we needed you?" Koreatown was isolated from South Central Los Angeles, yet it was the most severely damaged in the riots despite this.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
Television coverage of two Korean merchants firing pistols repeatedly at roving looters was widely seen and controversial. The New York Times said: "that the image seemed to speak of race war, and of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands." The merchants were reacting to the shooting of Mr. Park's wife and her sister by looters who had converged on the shopping center where the shops were located.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans
The riots have been considered a major turning point in the development of a distinct Korean American identity and community. Korean Americans responded in various ways, including the development of new ethnic agendas and organization and increased political activism.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Preparations
One of the largest armed camps in Los Angeles's Koreatown was at the California Market. On the first night after the officers' verdicts were returned, Richard Rhee, the market owner, set up camp in the parking lot with about 20 armed employees. One year after the riots, fewer than one in four damaged or destroyed businesses had reopened, according to the survey conducted by the Korean-American Inter-Agency Council. According to a Los Angeles Times survey conducted eleven months after the riots, almost 40 percent of Korean Americans said they were thinking of leaving Los Angeles.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Preparations
Before a verdict was issued in the new 1993 Rodney King federal civil rights trial against the four officers, Korean shop owners prepared for the worst. Gun sales went up, many to people of Korean descent; some merchants at flea markets removed merchandise from shelves, and they fortified storefronts with extra Plexiglas and bars. Throughout the region, merchants readied to defend themselves. College student Elizabeth Hwang spoke of the attacks on her parents' convenience store in 1992. She said at the time of the 1993 trial, they had been armed with a Glock 17 pistol, a Beretta, and a shotgun, and they planned to barricade themselves in their store to fight off looters.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Preparations
Some Koreans formed armed militia groups following the 1992 riots. Speaking just prior to the 1993 verdict, Yong Kim, leader of the Korea Young Adult Team of Los Angeles, which purchased five AK-47s, said "We made a mistake last year. This time we won't. I don't know why Koreans are always a special target for African-Americans, but if they are going to attack our community, then we are going to pay them back."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Aftermath
Korean Americans not only faced physical damage to their stores and community surroundings, but they also suffered emotional, psychological, and economic despair. About 2,300 Korean-owned stores in southern California were looted or burned, making up 45 percent of all damages caused by the riot. According to the Asian and Pacific American Counseling and Prevention Center, 730 Koreans were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, which included insomnia and a sense of helplessness and muscle pain. In reaction, many Korean Americans worked to create political and social empowerment.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Aftermath
As a result of the L.A. riots, Korean Americans formed activist organizations such as the Association of Korean-American Victims. They built collaborative links with other ethnic groups through groups like the Korean American Coalition. A week after the riots, in the largest Asian-American protest ever held in a city, about 30,000 mostly-Korean and Korean-American marchers walked the streets of L.A. Koreatown, calling for peace and denouncing police violence. This cultural movement was devoted to the protection of Koreans' political rights, ethnic heritage, and political representation. New leaders arose within the community, and second-generation children spoke on behalf of the community.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Aftermath
Korean Americans began to have different occupation goals, from storeowners to political leaders. Korean Americans worked to gain governmental aid to rebuild their damaged neighborhoods. Countless community and advocacy groups have been established to further fuel Korean political representation and understanding. After suffering from isolation, they worked to gain new understanding and connections. The representative voice that was created remains present in South Central Los Angeles. The riots contributed to the shaping of identities, perceptions and political and social representation.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Aftermath
Edward Taehan Chang, a professor of ethnic studies and founding director of the Young Oak Kim Center for Korean American Studies at the University of California, Riverside, has identified the LA riots as a turning point for the development of a Korean American identity separate from that of Korean immigrants and that was more politically active. "What was an immigrant Korean identity began to shift. The Korean-American identity was born ... They learned a valuable lesson that we have to become much more engaged and politically involved and that political empowerment is very much part of the Korean-American future."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Korean Americans, Aftermath
According to Edward Park, the 1992 violence stimulated a new wave of political activism among Korean-Americans, but it also split them into two camps. The liberals sought to unite with other minorities in Los Angeles to fight against racial oppression and scapegoating. The conservatives emphasized law and order and generally favored the economic and social policies of the Republican Party. The conservatives tended to emphasize the differences between Koreans and other minorities, specifically African Americans.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Latinos
According to a report prepared in 1993 by the Latinos Futures Research Group for the Latino Coalition for a New Los Angeles, one third of those who were killed and one half of those who were arrested in the riots were Latino; moreover, between 20% and 40% of the businesses that were looted were owned by Latino individuals. Hispanics were considered a minority despite their increasing numbers, and thus lacked political support and were poorly represented. Their lack of representation, both socially and politically, silenced their acknowledgment of participation within the area. Many of the individuals of the area were new immigrants; they often did not speak English.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Involvement, Latinos
Gloria Alvarez claims the riots did not create social distance between Hispanics and black people but rather united them. Although the riots were perceived in different aspects, Alvarez argues it brought a greater sense of understanding between Hispanics and blacks. Even though Hispanics now heavily populate the once predominantly black area, such transition has improved over time. Building a stronger and more understanding community could help prevent social chaos arising between the two groups,though hate crimes and widespread violence between the two groups continue to be a problem in the L.A. area. However only minor rioting, vandalism and incidents occurred in Hispanic/Latino neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, East Los Angeles and the heavily populated Hispanic neighborhoods of Northeast Los Angeles.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage
Almost as soon as the disturbances broke out in South Central, local television news cameras were on the scene to record the events as they happened. Television coverage of the riots was near-continuous, starting with the beating of motorists at the intersection of Florence and Normandie broadcast live by television news pilot and reporter Zoey Tur and her camera operator Marika Gerrard.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage
In part because of extensive media coverage of the Los Angeles riots, smaller but similar riots and other anti-police actions took place in other cities throughout the United States. The Emergency Broadcast System was also utilized during the rioting.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage
Coverage came from the American media, which gave an extensive portrayal of the riots, Korean-American media, and Korea itself. One of the most prominent sources for news about the coverage came from the Korea Times, a Korean-American newspaper run entirely independently from American newspapers, such as The New York Times.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage, Korean-American newspapers
Articles presented from the Korean-American side stated that "Looters apparently targeted Korean American merchants during the LA. Riots, according to the FBI official who directed federal law enforcement efforts during the disturbance." The Korean American newspaper focused on the 1992 riots with Korean Americans being the center of the violence. Initial articles from late April and early May were about the stories depicting victims' lives and the LA Korean Community's damage. Interviews with Koreatown merchants, such as Chung Lee, drew sympathy from its readers. Lee, the example of a model merchant, watched, helplessly, as his store was burned down. "I worked hard for that store. Now I have nothing," said Lee.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage, Mainstream media
While several articles included the minorities involved when citing damages or naming victims, few actually incorporated them as a significant part of the struggle. One story framed the race riots as occurring at a "time when the wrath of blacks was focused on whites." They acknowledged the fact that racism and stereotyped views contributed to the riots; articles in American newspapers portrayed the LA riots as an incident that erupted between black and white people who were struggling to coexist with each other, rather than include all of the minority groups that were involved in the riots.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage, Mainstream media
On Nightline, Ted Koppel initially only interviewed Black leaders about the Black/Korean conflict, and they shared detrimental opinions about Korean-Americans.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage, Mainstream media
Activist Guy Aoki became frustrated with early coverage using Black/White framing, both vilifying the Korean-American community and ignoring their suffering.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Media coverage, Mainstream media
Some felt too much emphasis was placed on Korean-American suffering. As filmmaker Dai Sil Kim-Gibson, who created the 1993 documentary "Sa-I-Gu", described, "black-Korean conflict was one symptom, but it was certainly not the cause of that riot. The cause of that riot was black-white conflict that existed in this country from the establishment of this country."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath
After the riots subsided, an inquiry was commissioned by the city Police Commission, led by William H. Webster (special advisor), and Hubert Williams (deputy special advisor, president of the Police Foundation). The findings of the inquiry, The City in Crisis: A Report by the Special Advisor to the Board of Police Commissioners on the Civil Disorder in Los Angeles, also colloquially known as the Webster Report or Webster Commission, was released on October 21, 1992.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath
LAPD chief of police Daryl Gates, who had seen his successor Willie L. Williams named by the Police Commission days before the riots, was forced to resign on June 28, 1992. Some areas of the city saw temporary truces between the rival Crips and Bloods gangs, as well as between rival Latino gangs, which fueled speculation among LAPD officers that the truce was going to be used to unite them against the department.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
In addition to the catalyst of the verdicts in the excessive force trial, various other factors have been cited as causes of the unrest. In the years preceding the riots, several other highly controversial incidents involving police brutality or other perceived injustices against minorities had been criticized by activists and investigated by media.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Thirteen days after the beating of King was widely broadcast, blacks were outraged when Latasha Harlins, a 15-year-old black girl, was mortally shot in the back of the head by a Korean-American shopkeeper, Soon Ja Du, in the course of an assumed shoplifting incident and brief physical altercation. Though the jury recommended a sentence of 16 years, Judge Joyce Karlin changed the sentence to just five years of probation and 400 hours of community service–and no jail time.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Rioters targeted Korean-American shops in their areas, as there had been considerable tension between the two communities. Such sources as Newsweek and Time suggested that blacks thought Korean-American merchants were "taking money out of their community", that they were racist as they refused to hire blacks, and often treated them without respect. There were cultural and language differences, as some shop owners were immigrants.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
There were other factors for social tensions: high rates of poverty and unemployment among the residents of South Central Los Angeles, which had been deeply affected by the nationwide recession. Articles in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times linked the economic deterioration of South Central to the declining living conditions of the residents, and reported that local resentments about these conditions helped to fuel the riots. Other scholars compare these riots to those in Detroit in the 1920s, when whites rioted against blacks. But instead of African-Americans as victims, the race riots "represent backlash violence in response to recent Latino and Asian immigration into African-American neighborhoods."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Social commentator Mike Davis points to the growing economic disparity in Los Angeles, caused by corporate restructuring and government deregulation, with inner city residents bearing the brunt of such changes; such conditions engendered a widespread feeling of frustration and powerlessness in the urban populace, who reacted to the King verdicts with a violent expression of collective public protest. To Davis and other writers, the tensions between African-Americans and Korean-Americans had as much to do with the economic competition between the two groups caused by wider market forces as with cultural misunderstandings and black anger about the killing of Latasha Harlins.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Davis writes that the 1992 Los Angeles Riots are still remembered over 20 years later, and that not many changes have yet occurred; conditions of economic inequality, lack of jobs available for black and Latino youth, and civil liberty violations by law enforcement have remained largely unaddressed years later. Davis describes this as a "conspiracy of silence", especially in view of statements made by the Los Angeles Police Department that they would make reforms coming to little fruition.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Davis argues that the rioting was different than in the 1965 Watts Riots, which had been more unified among all minorities living in Watts and South Central; the 1992 riots, on the other hand, were characterized by divided uproars that defied description of a simple uprising of black against white, and involved the destruction and looting of many businesses owned by racial minorities.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
A Special Committee of the California Legislature also studied the riots, producing a report entitled To Rebuild is Not Enough. The Committee concluded that the inner city conditions of poverty, racial segregation, lack of educational and employment opportunities, police abuse and unequal consumer services created the underlying causes of the riots. It also noted that the decline of industrial jobs in the American economy and the growing ethnic diversity of Los Angeles had contributed to urban problems.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Another official report, The City in Crisis, was initiated by the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners; it made many of the same observations as the Assembly Special Committee about the growth of popular urban dissatisfaction. In their study, Farrell and Johnson found similar factors, including the diversification of the L.A. population, tension between the successful Korean businesses and other minorities, and excessive force on minorities by LAPD and the effect of laissez-faire business on urban employment opportunities.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Rioters were believed to have been motivated by racial tensions but these are considered one of numerous factors. Urban sociologist Joel Kotkin said, "This wasn't a race riot, it was a class riot." Many ethnic groups participated in rioting, not only African Americans. Newsweek reported that "Hispanics and even some whites; men, women and children mingled with African-Americans." "When residents who lived near Florence and Normandie were asked why they believed riots had occurred in their neighborhoods, they responded of the perceived racist attitudes they had felt throughout their lifetime and empathized with the bitterness the rioters felt. Residents who had respectable jobs, homes, and material items still felt like second class citizens. A poll by Newsweek asked whether black people charged with crimes were treated more harshly or more leniently than other ethnicities; 75% of black people responded "more harshly", versus 46% of white people.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
In his public statements during the riots, Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader, sympathized with African-Americans' anger about the verdicts in the King trial and noted root causes of the disturbances. He repeatedly emphasized the continuing patterns of racism, police brutality, and economic despair suffered by inner-city residents.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
Several prominent writers expressed a similar "culture of poverty" argument. Writers in Newsweek, for example, drew a distinction between the actions of the rioters in 1992 with those of the urban upheavals in the 1960s, arguing that "[w]here the looting at Watts had been desperate, angry, mean, the mood this time was closer to a manic fiesta, a TV game show with every looter a winner."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Scholars and writers
According to a 2019 study in the American Political Science Review found that the riots caused a liberal shift, both in the short-term and long-term, politically.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton said that the violence resulted from the breakdown of economic opportunities and social institutions in the inner city. He also berated both major political parties for failing to address urban issues, especially the Republican Administration for its presiding over "more than a decade of urban decay" generated by their spending cuts. He also maintained that the King verdicts could not be avenged by the "savage behavior" of "lawless vandals" and stated that people "are looting because ...


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
[t]hey do not share our values, and their children are growing up in a culture alien from ours, without family, without neighborhood, without church, without support." While Los Angeles was mostly unaffected by the urban decay the other metropolitan areas of the nation faced since the 1960s, racial tensions had been present since the late 1970s, becoming increasingly violent as the 1980s progressed.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
Democrat Maxine Waters, the African-American Congressional representative of South Central Los Angeles,  said that the events in Los Angeles constituted a "rebellion" or "insurrection," caused by the underlying reality of poverty and despair existing in the inner city. This state of affairs, she asserted, was brought about by a government that had all but abandoned the poor and failed to help compensate for the loss of local jobs and the institutional discrimination encountered by racial minorities, especially at the police's hands and financial institutions.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
Conversely, President Bush argued that the unrest was "purely criminal." Though he acknowledged that the King verdicts were plainly unjust, he said that "we simply cannot condone violence as a way of changing the system ... Mob brutality, the total loss of respect for human life was sickeningly sad ... What we saw last night and the night before in Los Angeles is not about civil rights. It's not about the great cause of equality that all Americans must uphold. It's not a message of protest. It's been the brutality of a mob, pure and simple."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
Vice President Dan Quayle blamed the violence on a "Poverty of Values" – "I believe the lawless social anarchy which we saw is directly related to the breakdown of family structure, personal responsibility and social order in too many areas of our society" Similarly, the White House Press Secretary, Marlin Fitzwater, alleged that "many of the root problems that have resulted in inner-city difficulties were started in the 1960s and 1970s and ... they have failed ... [ N]ow we are paying the price."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Post-riot commentary, Politicians
Writers for former Congressman Ron Paul framed the riots in similar terms in the June 1992 edition of the Ron Paul Political Newsletter, billed as a special issue focusing on "racial terrorism." "Order was only restored in LA", the newsletter read, "when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began ... What if the checks had never arrived? No doubt, the blacks would have fully privatized the welfare state through continued looting. But they were paid off, and the violence subsided."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
In the aftermath of the riots, public pressure mounted for a retrial of the officers. Federal charges of civil rights violations were brought against them. As the first anniversary of the acquittal neared, the city tensely awaited the federal jury's decision.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
The decision was read in a court session on Saturday, April 17, 1993 at 7 a.m. Officer Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacey Koon were found guilty, while officers Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind were acquitted. Mindful of criticism of sensationalist reporting after the first trial and during the riots, media outlets opted for more sober coverage. Police were fully mobilized with officers on 12 hour shifts, convoy patrols, scout helicopters, street barricades, tactical command centers, and support from the Army National Guard, the active duty Army and the Marines.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
All four of the officers left or were fired from the LAPD. Briseno left the LAPD after being acquitted on both state and federal charges. Wind, who was also twice acquitted, was fired after the appointment of Willie L. Williams as Chief of Police. The Los Angeles Police Commission declined to renew Williams's contract, citing failure to fulfill his mandate to create meaningful change in the department.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
Susan Clemmer, an officer who gave crucial testimony for the defense during the officers' first trial, committed suicide in July 2009 in the lobby of a Los Angeles Sheriff's Station. She had ridden in the ambulance with King and testified that he was laughing and spat blood on her uniform. She had remained in law enforcement and was a Sheriff's Detective at the time of her death.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
Rodney King was awarded $3.8 million in damages from the City of Los Angeles. He invested most of this money in founding a hip-hop record label, "Straight Alta-Pazz Records." The venture was unable to garner success and soon folded. King was later arrested at least eleven times on a variety of charges, including domestic abuse and hit and run. King and his family moved from Los Angeles to San Bernardino County's Rialto suburb in an attempt to escape the fame and notoriety and begin a new life.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rodney King
King and his family later returned to Los Angeles, where they ran a family-owned construction company. Until his death on June 17, 2012, King rarely discussed the night of his beating by police or its aftermath, preferring to remain out of the spotlight. King died of an accidental drowning; authorities said that he had alcohol and drugs in his body. Renee Campbell, his most recent attorney, described King as " ... simply a very nice man caught in a very unfortunate situation."


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Arrests
On May 3, 1992, in view large number of persons arrested during the riots, the California Supreme Court extended the deadline to charge defendants from 48 hours to 96 hours. That day, 6,345 people were arrested. Nearly one third of the rioters arrested were released because police officers were unable to identify individuals in the sheer volume of the crowd. In one case, officers arrested around 40 people stealing from one store; while they were identifying them, a group of another 12 looters were brought in. With the groups mingled, charges could not be brought against individuals for stealing from specific stores, and the police had to release them all.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Arrests
In the weeks after the rioting, more than 11,000 people were arrested. Many of the looters in black communities were turned in by their neighbors, who were angry about the destruction of businesses who employed locals and provided basic needs such as groceries. Many of the looters, fearful of prosecution by law enforcement and condemnation from their neighbors, ended up placing looted items curbside in other neighborhoods to get rid of them.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rebuilding Los Angeles
After three days of arson and looting some 3,767 buildings were affected and damaged. and property damage was estimated at more than $1 billion. Donations were given to help with food and medicine. The office of State Senator Diane E. Watson provided shovels and brooms to volunteers from all over the community who helped clean. Thirteen thousand police and military personnel were on patrol, protecting intact gas stations and food stores; they reopened along with other businesses areas such as the Universal Studios tour, dance halls, and bars.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rebuilding Los Angeles
Many organizations stepped forward to rebuild Los Angeles; South Central's Operation Hope and Koreatown's Saigu and KCCD (Korean Churches for Community Development), all raised millions to repair destruction and improve economic development. Singer Michael Jackson "donated $1.25 million to start a health counseling service for inner-city kids". President George H.W. Bush signed a declaration of disaster; it activated Federal relief efforts for the victims of looting and arson, which included grants and low-cost loans to cover their property losses. The Rebuild LA program promised $6 billion in private investment to create 74,000 jobs.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Rebuilding Los Angeles
The majority of the local stores were never rebuilt. Store owners had difficulty getting loans; myths about the city or at least certain neighborhoods of it arose discouraging investment and preventing growth of employment. Few of the rebuilding plans were implemented, and business investors and some community members rejected South L.A.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Residential life
Many Los Angeles residents bought weapons for self-defense against further violence. The 10-day waiting period in California law stymied those who wanted to purchase firearms while the riot was going on.


1992 Los Angeles riots, Aftermath, Residential life
In a survey of local residents in 2010, 77 percent felt that the economic situation in Los Angeles had significantly worsened since 1992. From 1992 to 2007, the black population dropped by 123,000, while the Latino population grew more than 450,000. According to the Los Angeles police statistics, violent crime fell by 76 percent between 1992 and 2010, which was a period of declining crime across the country. It was accompanied by lessening tensions between racial groups. In 2012, sixty percent of residents reported racial tension had improved in the past 20 years, and the majority said gang activity had also decreased.


1992 Los Angeles riots in popular culture
This article lists examples of the ongoing influence on popular culture of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup
The 3rd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in San Diego, United States in 1992. The winner, Il Moro di Venezia, went on to challenge for the 1992 America's Cup.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams
Eight challengers from seven nations contested the 1992 Louis Vuitton Cup. Together they spent over $250 million. Il Moro di Venezia alone constructed four boats and spent over $85 million.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Il Moro di Venezia
The Italian challenge Il Moro Challenge was funded by Raul Gardini and skippered by American Paul Cayard. The primary designer was Germán Frers and the operations manager was Laurent Esquier. John Kolius was involved but could not sail as he had not completed his Italian eligibility requirements. Tommaso Chieffi was the tactician and Enrico Chieffi was the navigator. Other crew included Robert Hopkins and Steven Erickson.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Australian Challenge
From Sydney's Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the Australian Challenge was skippered by Syd Fischer. Colin Beashel was the helmsman and Hugh Treharne the tactician.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Spirit of Australia
A second Australian challenge from Sydney, Spirit of Australia was headed by Iain Murray, skippered by Peter Gilmour and the team included Tom Schnackenberg.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Desafio Español Copa America
From Spain, ESP-22 was skippered by Pedro Campos Calvo-Sotelo and coached by Peter Lester. The crew included Antonio Gorostegui.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Le Defi Francais 95
Le Defi Francais 95 was skippered by Marc Pajot. Bertrand Pacé was the backup helmsman and navigator.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Nippon Challenge
The first entry from Japan, Nippon Challenge was skippered by Chris Dickson, who had fallen out with the New Zealand Challenge during the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup. John Cutler was the tactician and the crew included Erle Williams and Mike Spanhake.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, New Zealand Challenge
Michael Fay financed what would be his final New Zealand Challenge. Managed by Peter Blake, the team was skippered by Rod Davis and NZL 20's crew included tactician David Barnes, bow, Alan Smith; mid-bow, David Brooke; mast, Barry McKay; pit, Denis Kendall; floater, Mark Hauser; grinders, Andrew Taylor and Sean Clarkson; genoa trimmers, Kevin Shoebridge and Grant Loretz; mainsheet traveler, Don Cowie; mainsheet trimmer, Simon Daubney; and running backstays, Tony Rae and Peter Evans. Russell Coutts sailed the second boat and additional crew members included Chris Salthouse, Robbie Naismith, Ross Halcrow, Warwick Fleury, Matt Mason, Dean Phipps, Gavin Brady and Nick Heron.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, New Zealand Challenge
Coutts and Brad Butterworth replaced Davis and Barnes during the Louis Vuitton Cup finals.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, The teams, Swedish America's Cup Challenge
From the Stenungsbaden Yacht Club, the challenge was skippered by Gunnar Krantz.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, Round robin
During RR1 a team scored 1 point per win. During RR2 a team scored 4 points per win. During RR3 a team scored 8 points per win.


1992 Louis Vuitton Cup, Finals, Final
*Race removed from records after Il Moro di Venezia were successful in a protest over New Zealand's bowsprit.


1992 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team
The 1992 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team was an American football team that represented Louisiana Tech University as an independent during the 1992 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth year under head coach Joe Raymond Peace, the team compiled an 5–6 record.


1992 Louisville Cardinals football team
The 1992 Louisville Cardinals football team represented the University of Louisville in the 1992 college football season. The team played their home games in Cardinal Stadium.


1992 Lucerne Ladies European Open
The 1992 Lucerne Ladies European Open was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Tennis Club Lido in Lucerne, Switzerland that was part of the Tier IV category of the 1992 WTA Tour. It was the 16th edition of the tournament and was held from 18 May until 24 May 1992. Second-seeded Amy Frazier won the singles title and earned $27,000 first-prize money.


1992 Lucerne Ladies European Open, Finals, Doubles
Amy Frazier /  Elna Reinach defeated  Karina Habšudová /  Marianne Werdel 7–5, 6–2


1992 Lufthansa Cup
The 1992 Lufthansa Cup was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin, Germany that was part of the Tier I category of the 1992 WTA Tour. It was the 23rd edition of the tournament and was held from 11 May until 17 May 1992. First-seeded Steffi Graf won the singles title, her sixth at the event, and earned $110,000 first-prize money.


1992 Lufthansa Cup, Finals, Doubles
Jana Novotná /  Larisa Neiland defeated  Gigi Fernández /  Natalia Zvereva 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 7–5


1992 Lyon Grand Prix
The 1992 Lyon Grand Prix was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was played at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon, France, and was part of the 1992 ATP Tour. It was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place from 19 October through 26 October 1992. First-seeded Pete Sampras won the singles title, his second consecutive at the event.


1992 Lyon Grand Prix, Finals, Doubles
Jakob Hlasek /  Marc Rosset defeated  Neil Broad /  Stefan Kruger 6–1, 6–3


1992 Lyon Grand Prix – Doubles
Tom Nijssen and Cyril Suk were the defending champions, but lost in the semifinals this year.


1992 Lyon Grand Prix – Doubles
Jakob Hlasek and Marc Rosset won the title, defeating Neil Broad and Stefan Kruger 6–1, 6–3 in the final.


1992 Lyon Grand Prix – Singles
Pete Sampras was the defending champion and successfully defended his title, beating Cédric Pioline 6–4, 6–2 in the final.


1992 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1992 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament was held March 6–9, 1992 at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.


1992 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
Number two seed La Salle defeated top-seeded Manhattan in the championship game, 79–78, to win their fourth MAAC men's basketball tournament.


1992 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The Explorers received an automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA Tournament as the No. 13 seed in the East region.


1992 MAAC Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All nine of the conference's members participated in the tournament field. Teams were seeded based on regular season conference records. All games were played at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York.


1992 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1992 Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place on March 13–15, 1992 at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Miami (OH) defeated Ball State, 58–57 in the championship game, to win its second MAC Tournament title, and deny the Cardinals a third straight tournament championship.


1992 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The Redskins earned an automatic bid to the 1992 NCAA Tournament as #13 seed in the Southeast region. In the round of 64, Miami fell to North Carolina 68–63.


1992 MAC Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
Eight of nine conference members participated, with play beginning in the quarterfinal round. Toledo was left out of the tournament field.


1992 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The 1992 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament took place on March 4–7, 1992 at Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Top seed Howard defeated three seed Florida A&M, 67–65 in the championship game, to win its third MEAC Tournament title.


1992 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament
The Bison participated in the 1992 NCAA Tournament as No. 16 seed in the Midwest Region.


1992 MEAC Men's Basketball Tournament, Format
All nine conference members participated, with play beginning in the first round round. The top seven teams received byes to the quarterfinal round. Teams were seeded based on their regular season conference record.


1992 MLB Japan All-Star Series
The 1992 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the fourth edition of the championship, a best-of-eight series between the All-Star teams from Major League Baseball (MLB) and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), then-called All-Japan.


1992 MLB Japan All-Star Series
MLB won the series by 6–1–1 and Mark Grace was named MVP.


1992 MTV Movie Awards
The 1992 MTV Movie Awards was hosted by Dennis Miller.


1992 MTV Movie Awards, Awards, Best Villain
Rebecca De Mornay – The Hand That Rocks the Cradle


1992 MTV Movie Awards, Awards, Best Song from a Movie
Bryan Adams — "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" (from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves)


1992 MTV Video Music Awards
The 1992 MTV Video Music Awards aired live on September 9, 1992, honoring the best music videos from June 16, 1991, to June 15, 1992. The show was hosted by Dana Carvey at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles.


1992 MTV Video Music Awards
The night's biggest winners were Van Halen and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as each group earned three moonmen that night. Particularly, Van Halen's video for "Right Now" took home the main award of the night, Video of the Year, and received seven nominations, making it the most nominated video of the night. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, meanwhile, won the award for Viewer's Choice and received a total of nine nominations for two of their videos, becoming the most nominated act of the night. Six of the Peppers' nominations were for "Give It Away", and the remaining three went to "Under the Bridge".


1992 MTV Video Music Awards
The show was notable for a feud between Axl Rose and members of Nirvana as well as Courtney Love. It began backstage before the awards show, when Love jokingly offered to make Rose the godfather of Frances Bean Cobain. Rose threatened Cobain, telling him to quiet his wife, and barbs were exchanged between Love and Rose's then-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour. Bassists Krist Novoselic and Duff McKagan almost came to blows over the incident, just before Nirvana were to take the stage. The spat went public onstage immediately after Nirvana's performance of "Lithium", as drummer Dave Grohl taunted Rose. Cobain then raised the dispute in post-show interviews at the VMA.


1992 MTV Video Music Awards
Along with Nirvana and Guns N' Roses, the night's performers included the likes of Bryan Adams, Def Leppard, En Vogue, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Eric Clapton, among others. Also, there was a special performance by U2 via satellite, with host Dana Carvey playing the drums for them from the Pauley Pavilion. English band The Cure was slated to perform, but had to cancel their appearance, citing illness and exhaustion.


1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Winners and nominations, Best Choreography in a Video
En Vogue – "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" (Choreographers: Frank Gatson, Travis Payne and LaVelle Smith Jr.)


1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Winners and nominations, Best Special Effects in a Video
U2 – "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (Special Effects: Simon Taylor)


1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Winners and nominations, Best Art Direction in a Video
Red Hot Chili Peppers – "Give It Away" (Art Directors: Nick Goodman and Robertino Mazati)


1992 MTV Video Music Awards, Winners and nominations, Best Cinematography in a Video
Guns N' Roses – "November Rain" (Directors of Photography: Mike Southon and Daniel Pearl)


1992 Macau Grand Prix
The 1992 Macau Grand Prix was a motor race held in two parts on the Guia Circuit in Macau on 21 & 22 November 1992. It was 39th Macau Grand Prix and the ninth edition to be open to Formula Three cars. The race also carried the title of FIA Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup.


1992 Macau Grand Prix
The race was won by Rickard Rydell driving a TOM's 032F - Toyota for TOM's Racing.


1992 Macau Grand Prix, Race Results
The race was won by Rickard Rydell driving a TOM's 032F - Toyota for TOM's Racing. Rydell's aggregate time for the two parts was 1 hour 10 minutes 54.04 seconds.


1992 Maceió Open
The 1992 Maceió Open was an ATP tournament played on clay courts. It was the only edition of the Maceió Open and was part of the ATP World Series of the 1992 ATP Tour. It was held in Maceió, Brazil, from February 3 through February 10, 1992.


1992 Maceió Open, Champions, Men's Doubles
Gabriel Markus /  John Sobel defeated  Ricardo Acioly /  Mauro Menezes 6–4, 1–6, 7–5


1992 Maceió Open – Doubles
Gabriel Markus and John Sobel won in the final 6–4, 1–6, 7–5 against Ricardo Acioly and Mauro Menezes.


1992 Maceió Open – Doubles, Seeds
Champion seeds are indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which those seeds were eliminated.


1992 Maceió Open – Singles
Tomás Carbonell won in the final 7–6(14–12), 5–7, 6–2 against Christian Miniussi.


1992 Maceió Open – Singles, Seeds
A champion seed is indicated in bold text while text in italics indicates the round in which that seed was eliminated.


1992 Madrid bombing
The Madrid attack was a car bombing carried out by the armed Basque separatist group ETA in Madrid, Spain on 6 February 1992, which killed 5 people and injured a further 7. The target was a military vehicle transporting members of the army. The dead included three captains, a soldier driving the vehicle and a civilian working for the armed forces. This was ETA's deadliest attack of 1992.


1992 Madrid bombing, Background
ETA had begun intensifying attacks in the early 1990s in the run up to the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona to try to gain wider publicity for their cause. This attack was the first that they had carried out in 1992 in Madrid and came weeks after the civil guard and Basque police had infiltrated an extortion ring set up to fund ETA.


1992 Madrid bombing, The attack
The vehicle used in the attack, an Opel Kadett, had been stolen at gunpoint in September 1991 in the Basque town of Zarautz. It was then hidden and had its number plates changed. On the day of the attack, the car was loaded with between 40 and 50 kilos of explosives and a variety of screws, bolts, and nails. It was parked only minutes before the explosion in Plaza de la Cruz Verde, just 200 metres from the General captaincy, the headquarters of the army in Madrid. ETA detonated the bomb remotely when the military vehicle passed. The bomb killed all those in the vehicle, injured seven passersby and caused extensive damage to nearby buildings.


1992 Madrid bombing, Reactions
The attack took the number of people killed by ETA in 1992 to ten. Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez expressed anger at the attack, reiterating that it would not lead to the government changing its stance. He called for judicial action against those responsible for such attacks, such as Herri Batasuna, the political wing of ETA. The leader of the opposition, José María Aznar, called for a decision to be made on whether Batasuna should remain legal as a political party. The King of Spain, Juan Carlos, sent a telegram of condolence to the families of those killed. In the Basque Country, Basque President José Antonio Ardanza Garro condemned the attack, stating that such attacks were ultimately "suicidal" for ETA.


1992 Maine Black Bears football team
The 1992 Maine Black Bears football team was an American football team that represented the University of Maine as a member of the Yankee Conference during the 1992 NCAA Division I-AA football season. In their third and final season under head coach Kirk Ferentz, the Black Bears compiled a 6–5 record (4–4 against conference opponents) and tied for fifth place in the Yankee Conference.


1992 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season
The 1992 season is the 6th season of the league that began on December 27, 1991, and concluded with the championship game on April 11, 1992.


1992 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, Team movement
1992 saw the debut of the Buffalo Bandits, and also saw the New England Blazers move to Boston.


1992 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, Regular season
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


1992 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, Statistics leaders
Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records.


1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 63rd playing of the midsummer classic between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 14, 1992, at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, the home of the San Diego Padres of the National League. The game resulted in the American League defeating the National League 13–6.


1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
In the eighth inning, Charles Nagy became the only pitcher to get a hit in an All-Star Game in the designated hitter era.


1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Rosters
Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.


1992 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Game, Umpires
Harvey, a California resident, was named crew chief to honor him for 31 seasons of service to the National League. He retired at the end of the 1992 season and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010.


1992 Major League Baseball draft
The 1992 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 1, 1992, through a conference call involving all 28 MLB teams of the time. Phil Nevin of Cal State Fullerton was the first overall selection, chosen by the Houston Astros. Derek Jeter, selected for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in January 2020, was selected by the New York Yankees with the sixth selection. In addition to Nevin, Paul Shuey, B. J. Wallace, Jeffrey Hammonds, and Chad Mottola were selected ahead of Jeter.


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
The 1993 expansion Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins participated in the MLB Draft for the first time in 1992.


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
With the first overall selections of the previous two drafts, Chipper Jones and Brien Taylor, receiving signing bonuses of $1.2 million ($2,348,344 in current dollar terms) and $1.55 million ($2,909,516 in current dollar terms) respectively, salary demands of new players became a factor in the 1992 draft. Prior to the draft, Jeffrey Hammonds of the Stanford Cardinal baseball team sought a signing bonus of $1.8 million ($3,279,440 in current dollar terms). Derek Jeter, a high school player who had a commitment to play college baseball at the University of Michigan, was believed to be seeking a bonus of at least $1 million ($1,821,911 in current dollar terms) to forego college.


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
The Astros, holding the first overall selection, were keenly aware of the bonus demands of Hammonds and Jeter, as they were unable to sign their first-round pick in the 1991 MLB draft, John Burke, who held out for a bonus of $500,000 ($938,554 in current dollar terms) as the sixth overall selection. They selected Phil Nevin, the 1992 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, with the first overall selection. In addition to perceiving Nevin as close to MLB-ready, needing little development in minor league baseball, Nevin also did not seek a large signing bonus. He agreed to sign with the Astros for $700,000 ($1,275,338 in current dollar terms). Astros' scout Hal Newhouser quit in protest, as he had insisted to Astros' management that they should choose Jeter.


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
The teams with the first four selections, the Astros, Cleveland Indians, Montreal Expos, and Baltimore Orioles, had the four lowest payrolls in MLB. The Cleveland Indians selected Paul Shuey out of the University of North Carolina with the second selection, who they projected could develop into a closer comparable to Rob Dibble. The Expos, who preferred Hammonds, drafted B. J. Wallace instead, as they were unable to afford Hammonds' salary demands.


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
The Orioles selected Hammonds with the fourth overall selection; he signed with the Orioles for $975,000 ($1,776,364 in current dollar terms), the largest signing bonus given out in the 1992 Draft. With the fifth pick, the Reds chose Chad Mottola from the University of Central Florida (UCF), making Mottola the first UCF athlete to be chosen in the first round of a professional sports draft. He signed with the Reds the day of the draft for $400,000 ($728,765 in current dollar terms).


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
Yankees scout Dick Groch, assigned to scout in the Midwest, watched Jeter participate in an all-star camp held at Western Michigan University, and came away sold by Jeter's talent. Though the Yankees were also concerned that Jeter might attend college, Grouch convinced the team to select Jeter. Regarding the possibility Jeter would attend Michigan, Groch said "the only place Derek Jeter's going is to Cooperstown", referring to the home city of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jeter signed with the Yankees for $800,000 ($1,457,529 in current dollar terms).


1992 Major League Baseball draft, Background
Scott Boras advised Charles Johnson and Michael Tucker. Those players fell in the first round as their perceived salary demands were too high for many teams.


1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft
On November 17, 1992, during the 1992–93 offseason, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft in New York City to allow two  expansion teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League's (NL) East and West divisions, respectively, in the 1993 MLB season.


1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft
The 1990 collective bargaining agreement between MLB owners and the MLB Players Association allowed the NL to expand by two members to match the American League (AL). In June 1991, MLB accepted bids of groups from Miami, Florida, and Denver, Colorado, with debuts set for 1993.


1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft
The Marlins and Rockies used the expansion draft to build their teams using different strategies. As the Rockies had a smaller operating budget than the Marlins, the Rockies targeted prospects with low salaries, while the Marlins selected older players intended to provide more immediate impact. All three rounds of the draft were televised by ESPN.


1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft, Background
Major League Baseball (MLB) team owners and the MLB Players Association agreed to expand the National League (NL) by two teams in the 1990 collective bargaining agreement. Prior to expansion, the NL had 12 teams while the American League had 14.


1992 Major League Baseball expansion draft, Background
In June 1991, MLB accepted two bids for expansion franchises: one for Miami, Florida, and the other for Denver, Colorado. Both teams were set to debut in 1993. Expansion was approved unanimously by all teams in July 1991. The Denver group chose to call their franchise the Colorado Rockies, the same name used as the National Hockey League franchise that played in Denver from 1976 to 1982. The Miami group chose to call themselves the Florida Marlins to broaden their fanbase to the entire state, while reviving the nickname of a defunct minor league team. An expansion draft to stock both franchises was set for November 1992.