Watts Riots
The riots began on August 11, 1965, in Watts, when a motorcycle officer pulled over, Marquette Frye, a 21 year old black man, who had been driving erratically and was suspected of being drunk. Six days of riots followed. The community believed that Fry was the subject of police brutality and that racially motivated police brutality was rampant. During the course of the riots, 34 people were killed, 1,000 injured, and 4,000 arrested. 600 buildings were damaged or destroyed, and damage was estimated at $35 million. The violence ended after 20,000 national guard troops were called in by California governor Jerry Brown. But, the pattern of rioting continued across the country in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Detroit, Newark, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Chicago and Cleveland. Click for video
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