L.A. riots rally

"As sections of Los Angeles burned half a continent away, more than 1,000 people attended a Dunn Meadow rally to express their outrage with the racial situation in the United States," according to an IDS article.

The session began with sophomore Mike Grant asking the crowd, "Does anyone know what went on last night? Does anybody think anything really fucked up went on last night? You can't get somebody out of his car and beat the crap out them and get it on video tape and get totally acquitted."

Grant was talking about the case of police brutality involving Rodney King on March 2, 1991. After a night of drinking, King entered a high-speed chase as multiple police cars attempted to pull him over for speeding. King pulled over after driving approximately eight miles and was told to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground.

During the arrest, King was tasered and beaten with batons while a bystander filmed the incident.

A year later the four policemen charged with brutality were acquitted — an announcement that triggered the L.A. riots of 1992.

"In the '60s, we said we're going to be peaceful," sophomore Ken Washington said in an IDS article. "Now our brothers in South Central L.A. are saying now, 'We're tired of dying for our civil rights — now we're ready to kill for them.'"