Watts+Riots


 * The Watts Riots of August 1965 are among the worst disturbances to occur in the mid 1960's revolving around racial tension. After 5 days of riots were finally put to rest by 20,000 national gaurdsmen there were 34 deaths, 1,000 injuries, 4,000 arrests, and an estimated $40 million worth of damages in the community.

 How and why the riots were sparked: ** **August 11, 1965**
 * Marquette Frye, a 21-year-old black man, was driving his motorcycle in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. On the back of the bike was his brother Ronald Frye.
 * A white policeman, officer Lee Minikus, pulled Frye over for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol.
 * The officer started questioning Marquette and a crowd of african american on-lookers began to form.
 * Ronald Frye, Marquette's brother, walked two blocks to their home and returned to the scene with their mother, Rena Price.
 * Marquette failed the sobriety test and officer Lee Minikus started to put him under arrest.
 * Immediately Rena started scolding her son causing Marquette to resist arrest through his anger.
 * More policemen had arrived at the scene and were reported hitting Marquette with their batons. Ronald became involved and was hit too.
 * The crowd of 200+ onlookers was growing angry and rowdy. Rumor spread through the crowd that the policemen had assaulted Marquette's pregnant girlfriend and mother as well.
 * Marquette, Ronald, and Rena Price were arrested.
 * The 90 degree weather, racial tension, and police brutality issues caused five days of riots to begin.

 **Some major events and issues of the riots:**
 * August 12, 1965**
 * Around midnight August 11-12, Human Relations came to speak with some of the rioters and police men. They suggested moving the police cars and station out of the area because it was causing more turmoil with the rioters. The police station did not follow the advice right away.
 * By 12:30 AM there were about 70 blacks from Watts on either side of Avalon Boulevard. They were stoning cars with bricks, rocks and anything else they could find. All cars stoned were driven by whites. A driver was caught off-guard and cut by his broken windshield glass.
 * By 2:00 AM four cars had been set to fire and the number of rioters had more than doubled.
 * The first looted market was observed at 116th Street and Avalon Boulevard.


 * August 13,1965**
 * Non Violent Action Committee tries to get rioters to go inside shortly after mid-night. The attempts were ignored to a great extent.
 * Around 12:19 AM the LA fire department reports to try and estinguish a fire on Avalon Boulevard. The rioters did not let the vehicles approach the fires and stoned the trucks. A fireman was hit in the back of his head with a rock thrown by a rioter.
 * Churches, other stores, and automobiles were set to fire and destroyed.


 * August 14, 1965**
 * Moneycre Whitmore was shot and killed by a LA policeman for looting a liquor store. It was ruled a justified homicide.
 * At 12:45 AM LAPD was relieved and the National Guard took control.
 * About 10 minutes later two rioters drove high speed towards a line of Nation Guardsmen. The intent was to run down several men but the car only hit one. He was seriously injured.
 * After witnessing this, a general personally ordered all men to load their riffles with ammunition.
 * Arrests were made in large numbers.
 * August 15, 1965**
 * A curfew had been set for 8:00 PM and any unauthorized personal on the streets would be taken under arrest. This area was relatively quiet but further north rioters were still starting fires, looting stores, and damaging property.
 * It took extreme force from the National Guard to get the streets of Watts under control.



**After the riots:** Marquette Frye had been asked many times to speak at civil rights rallies and other events. He tried his hardest to escape his ties to the Watts riots. He even changed to his mother's maiden name to make it harder to find him. It was hard for Frye to hold a job because of his ties with the riots and being arrest for various crimes. He had two children and often spoke at many schools within the community about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and gangs. He died in 1986 from pneumonia.

Police officer Lee Minikus was asked if he would have handled the situation differently if it were to happen today. He says he would have done absolutely nothing differently and believes he was not being prejudice towards African Americans or demonstrating police brutality.

Rena Price, Marquette's mother, was questioned about the riots and says that it was so long ago she tries to forget they happened. She does not want to hold any blame for the cause of the riots.

**Works Cited ** Moore, Maloy. //Los Angeles Times //. 11 Aug. 2005. Los Angeles Times. 26 Feb. 2010 . Coy, Jefferson. //Watts Riots //. 2 Sept. 2008. Cengage Learning, Inc. 26 Feb. 2010 . Madern, George T. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">PBS Watts Riots // <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">. 12 Apr. 2002. Luna Ray. 26 Feb. 2010 <http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/times/times_watts.html>.