1990

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1990s News
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Rodney King

• March 3, 1991
• Had been drinking at a friends house
• Driving in car with two friends
• Blood alcohol level was probably around .19
• (2 ½ x the legal limit in California)

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• 1230 a.m. Officers Tim and Melanie Singer
  (husband and wife team of California Highway
  Patrol)
• High speed chase- up to around 117 mph (some
  though feel it was much lower than this)

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• King was on parole for a previous robbery
  conviction
• He said that he did not pull over because he was
  scared about what would happen about violating
  parole

5

• King initially stayed in the car, while other two
  people in car got out to lie face down on the
  ground
• Giggling, waving to police helicopter overhead

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• Singer approached King with her gun drawn- but
  she was told by Sergeant Koon to put away the
  weapon
• They are taught to approach suspect without gun
  drawn so it is more difficult for suspect to gain
  control

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• Plan was to subdue and handcuff King in a swarm
  technique
• Multiple officers grab suspect with empty hands
• King physically resisted

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• King tossed Powell off of his back, struck
  Briseno in his chest
• They testified they thought King was potentially
  on PCP (he was not though)
• Koon fired a Taser at King, he fell for a moment,
  stood back up and yelled

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• Bystander George Holliday filmed the even- King
  was on the ground when it started
• King keeps trying to rise up on his knees,
  officers keep hitting him with batons

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• Koon ordered officers to hit his joints, hit the
  wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his
  ankles
• 56 baton blows, 6 kicks
• King placed in handcuffs and cordcuffs
  (restraining arms and legs)

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• Dragged then on his stomach to the side of the
  road until rescue crew can get there
• Holliday was in his apartment near the
  intersection where the incident was
• He contacted the police about it, and they
  dismissed him

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• He contacted the news, they broadcast it on air
• Media sensation

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• King was taken to the hospital
• Fractured facial bone, broken right ankle,
  bruises, lacerations, skull fractures, brain
  damage, broken teeth

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• Officers openly joked and bragged about the
  number of times King had been hit

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Trial of Officers

• Koon, Powell, Briseno, Wind charged with using
  excessive force
• Koon was supervisory officer at scene and charged
  for willfully permitting and failing to take
  action to stop the unlawful assault

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• Judge changed venue- went to courthouse in Simi
  Valley
• Jury consisted of ten white, one Latino, one
  Asian
• April 29, 1992 jury acquitted three of the
  officers, could not agree about one of the
  charges for Powell

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• LA Mayor Tom Bradley the jurys verdict will
  not blind us to what we saw on that videotape.
  The men who beat Rodney King do not deserve to
  wear the uniform of the LAPD

19

• President George HW Bush viewed from outside
  the trial, it was hard to understand how the
  verdict could possibly square with the video.
  Those civil rights leaders with whom I met were
  stunned. And so was I and so was Barbara and so
  were my kids.

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• http//www.cnn.com/2012/04/28/us/rodney-king-profi
  le/index.html
• King was awarded 3.8 million in a civil case and
  used the proceeds to start a hip hop music label
  (Straight Alta-Pazz Recording Company)

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• King had various run ins with the law since
  (involving alcohol)
• Virtually broke- used his money on lawyers,
  giving to people, or just wasted
• Died recently in drowning

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L.A. Riots

• News of acquittal triggered the Los Angeles riots
  of 1992
• Police, U.S. Army, Marines, National Guard
  restored order
• 53 deaths, 2,393 injuries
• More than 7000 fires
• Damages to 3100 businesses

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• 1 billion in damages
• Widespread looting
• Stores owned by Korean and other Asian immigrants
  were widely targeted

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Reginald Denny Beating

• White truck driver
• Stopped at a traffic light
• Dragged from his vehicle and severely beaten by a
  mob of local black residents as a TV news
  helicopter hovered above

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• The reporter broadcast live pictures of the
  attack
• Concrete brick that was thrown by a guy and
  struck Denny in the temple- caused a near-fatal
  seizure

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• It was clear the police had deserted the city
• Unarmed African American civilian Bobby Green Jr
  saw it on live TV and came to the scene and
  rescued him

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• At the same intersection, just minutes after
  Denny was rescued- another beating was caught on
  video
• Fidel Lopez- construction worker
• Pulled from his truck and robbed of nearly 2000

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• Smashed his forehead open with a car stereo,
  another rioter tried to slice his ear off
• Lost consciousness, crowd spray painted his
  chest, torso, genitals
• A reverend placed himself between Lopez and
  attackers

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Waco

• February 29, 1993
• 51 days later it ended on April 19
• United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
  Firearms
• Tried to get a search warrant at Branch Davidian
  ranch

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• An intense gun battle erupted for two hours
• Four agents, six Branch Davidians were killed
• Fire destroyed the compound fifty days later

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• 75 people died in the fire (including more than
  20 children, 2 pregnant women)

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Branch Davidians

• Protestant sect that originated in 1955
• 1959 it was announced that the Second Coming of
  Jesus Christ was about to take place, members
  were told to gather at the center to await the
  event

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• Built houses, stayed in tents, trucks or buses,
  sold their possessions
• David Koresh was the chosen leader
• Koresh said he had been told by God to procreate
  with women in the group to establish a House of
  David

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• It involved married couples in the group
  dissolving their marriages and agreeing that only
  David Koresh could have sexual relations with the
  wives

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• Allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct
• Koresh and followers were accused of stockpiling
  weapons
• Koresh said he was entitled to at least 140 wives
• Fathered at least a dozen children, some of these
  mothers became brides at 12 or 13

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• ATF planned raid, Davidians were tipped off
  because of a reporter asking for direction in
  town- Koresh has men in compound prepare for the
  raid
• ATF continued with raid plans even though they
  knew the Davidians had been tipped off

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Siege

• Communication between those inside and 25 FBI
  negotiators was by telephone for 51 days
• Trying to negotiate Davidians coming out of the
  building
• Managed to release 19 children

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• 23 children were still in the compound
• 2 of the 3 water storage tanks had been shot
• FBI cut power and water to the compound, forced
  people to survive on rain water and stockpiled
  Ready to Eat rations

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• Used sleep and peace disrupting sound against
  Davidians
• FBI started thinking the Davidians might commit
  mass suicide (remembering Jonestown)

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• April 19, 1993
• Pumped tear gas into buildings
• Tried to flush out the Davidians
• Fires broke out (government maintains fires were
  started by Davidians) (Davidians say they were
  started by government)

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• 75 died (50 adults, 25 children under the age of
  15)
• 9 survived the fire on April 19

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Ruby Ridge

• Northern Idaho
• 1992
• Randy Weaver, his family, Weavers friend Kevin
  Harris, agents of the US Marshals Service and FBI

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• Weaver and family moved to Idaho during 1980s
  to home-school his children and escape what he
  and his wife Vicki saw as a corrupted world.

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• Weaver and his neighbor Terry Kinnison had a
  dispute over a land deal
• Kinnison contacted FBI, Secret Service, sheriff
  saying Weaver stated he was going to kill the
  Pope, the President, and the Governor

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• FBI and Secret Service started to investigate
• Secret Service had been told Weaver was a member
  of Aryan Nations

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• ATF Weaver was introduced to an ATF informant
  at a meeting of Aryan Nations
• Investigated for possession of illegal weapons

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• Weaver didnt show up for court, and a warrant
  was out for his arrest
• He stayed at his remote home, saying he would
  resist any attempt to take him by force

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• Weaver and his family would take up armed
  positions around the cabin every time there were
  vehicles around
• April 18, 1992 for Geraldo Riveras TV show-
  speculation about whether or not Weaver fired at
  helicopter

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• August 21, 1992
• Firefight between US Marshalls and Weaver family
• Son Sammy (14) was killed
• August 26, stand off ended through civilian
  negotiators

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Columbine

• Tuesday, April 20, 1999
• Littleton, Colorado
• Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold
• Killed 12 students, 1 teacher
• Injured 21 students directly
• Pair committed suicide

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• Brought up issues of gun control, high school
  cliques, bullying, violence in video games and
  music

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• Harris and Klebold very involved with Doom.
• The two felt they were at war against society and
  needed to take action toward those they hated

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• Both boys kept journals of their progress and
  planning
• Documented their arsenal
• Pair had an elaborate plan for a major bomb
  rivaling Oklahoma City

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• They wanted to set off bombs in the cafeteria at
  the busiest time of the day, killing many
  hundreds of students
• They would use guns to shoot survivors as they
  fled

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• Had film footage of them sharing the plans, doing
  target practice, and finally on April 20 the pair
  said goodbye and apologized to friends and family
  members

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• In the months prior to the attacks- Harris and
  Klebold got 2 9mm firearms, 2 12 gauge shotguns
• Guns were from a gun show
• Instructions from Internet showed how to make a
  bomb

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• April 20, 1999
• They set a small fire bomb in a field a half mile
  away to explode at 1114 (it would be a diversion
  for emergency personel)

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• Went into the cafeteria, placed duffel bags
  carrying bombs inside
• Bombs were supposed to go off at 1117
• Returned to cars to wait for the bombs to explode

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• Old friend Brooks Brown showed up at school, saw
  them outside
• Harris told him to go home
• Cafeteria bombs failed, Harris and Klebold armed
  themselves to go into the building

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• Went on rampage all over the school- stairwells,
  library
• Library had 52 students, 2 teachers, 2 librarians
  hiding

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• Harris started screaming for anyone who was a
  jock to stand up (no one stood up)
• Went around library shooting