Controversy over Rodney King Beating and L.A. Riots Reignites
Moulin used his comments as a platform to sully Daryl Gates’s memory and to insult the many officers who hold the former police chief in high regard. He also defended his decision to withdraw the officers under his command from the flash point of the riots, a decision that was condemned by Gates and cited by the Webster Commission, formed to investigate the Rodney King affair, as a “critical error” that contributed to the riot’s escalation. Perhaps worse, he closed one of his comments with this contemptible postscript: “I had the last word Daryl, may you rest in peace!”
This brought a number of responses from people claiming — credibly, in my opinion — to have known Moulin during his time with the LAPD, including some who worked under him during those pivotal hours as the rioting began. The back-and-forth commentary was spirited, if at times sophomoric, but given the conflicting claims, I thought readers might welcome a follow-up column on the riots and an examination of those first hours after the officers accused of beating Rodney King were acquitted.
On April 29, 1992, Moulin was the night watch commander at the LAPD’s 77th Street Division, in South Central Los Angeles. Although there were minor confrontations with police elsewhere in the city after news of the officers’ acquittal was broadcast, it is generally acknowledged that the flash point of the riots can be placed at the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues, about six and a half miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and a mile and half west of the 77th Street Police Station. The genesis of the riots was described in an episode of ABC’s Nightline, titled “Anatomy of a Riot” (available for viewing online in three parts, here, here, and here).
On the program, a gang member tells the interviewer what happened that day at 4:15 p.m., about an hour after the acquittals were announced. “From my understanding,” he says, “people went to the store [the Pay-less Liquor and Deli, on Florence just west of Normandie] and just decided they weren’t going to pay for what they were getting. They were stopped at the door, and at that point [store owner] Mr. Lee’s son was hit in the head with a bottle of beer.” As reported by Lou Cannon, two other youths threw beer bottles at the store’s glass front door, shattering it. “This is for Rodney King,” one of them yelled. The Webster Commission identified this robbery as the first incident of the riots. (Cannon reported on the riots in the May 10, 1992, edition of the Washington Post. The article is available online for a fee here.)
The Nightline episode compresses the timeline of the events that immediately followed, leaving the viewer with the impression that this robbery directly resulted in a clash between police officers and rioters. This was not the case. Two 77th Street officers responded to the liquor store and, finding the suspects had fled, completed a report. They were leaving the store at about 5:25 p.m. when they heard a radio broadcast of a disturbance at Florence and Halldale, a block to the east. A young black man, cheered on by several others, was using an aluminum baseball bat to break the windshield of a Cadillac with two white men inside. The man with the bat was arrested, but officers who responded to the call came under a barrage of rocks, bottles, and anything else that could be picked up and thrown.
Officers broadcast a request for assistance, and several police cars came racing to the scene. Freelance photographer Bart Bartholomew was in the area on assignment for the New York Times and, driving his Volvo sedan, followed a line of police cars to the area of Florence and Normandie, parking just north of Florence on 71st Street. The police had just chased a gang member who had been throwing rocks, capturing him near 71st Street and Normandie where Bartholomew started taking pictures.
Having handcuffed the rock thrower, the officers next contended with a group of gang members who attempted to wrest him away from their custody. Lieutenant Moulin was at the scene and, seeing that his officers were greatly outnumbered and that most were not wearing helmets to protect against the projectiles still being hurled at them, he ordered them to leave the area in the apparent hope that the situation would de-escalate on its own. Bartholomew later told Nightline that the 30 officers present were faced with about 150 very angry people, so it was not entirely unreasonable for Moulin to give his order to pull out. I’ve given similar orders myself, though admittedly in situations less charged than the one facing Moulin that day.
However, to ensure such a maneuver is not counterproductive, it has to be conducted in an orderly fashion, that is to say without conveying a sense of fear or panic. This was not done. Bartholomew described one of the photographs he took of the departing police officers as “clearly show[ing] the retreat in motion.” And after pulling out, Moulin should have directed some number of officers to remain at a distance but visible in the area so as to maintain a police presence and monitor whatever might follow. When the crowd did not disperse but instead grew larger and more violent, Moulin had an obligation, indeed an absolute duty, to gather as many officers as were available and then use them to restore order in the area. If, as he claims, he lacked sufficient resources to engage the rioters, he should have taken steps to divert traffic around the intersection of Florence and Normandie and prevent innocent people from driving into the maelstrom. This he failed to do.
“The crowd was very empowered by this [retreat],” said Bartholomew. “It was clearly a victory for them.” Sadly for him, with the police now gone he found himself the only white person on 71st Street. While walking to his car he was surrounded by a mob, and once inside the car he was struck in the face with a chunk of concrete and his cameras were stolen. One man in the crowd helped him escape, and had he not done so, Bartholomew might well have been the first fatality of the riots.
The Blacks had my sympathy then, but as time goes by I think only of the people who were killed because somebody didn’t like a court decision about a beating.
No more sympathy here.
Picking on a random person to take revenge for something that happened to someone you never met, is hardly the kind of action deserving of sympathy.
Trying to kill a Korean grocer because of what a white cop did to King is unconscionable and there is no excuse for it. The person responsible is more of a racist than the Rodney King officers ever were.
Mr. Dunphy:
“As the LAPD prepares to honor former Chief Daryl Gates at his funeral, people ask how the riots might have been prevented or, failing that, diminished in scope.”
And in three pages, you come closest to answering the query here:
“To which I would answer, it depends on who the dead people were. If, for example, a police officer had shot and killed Damian “Football” Williams to prevent him from launching that chunk of concrete at a helpless Reginald Denny’s head, I would have accepted it as a satisfactory, even desirable, outcome. In addition to sparing Denny from a nearly fatal injury, it would have had the added and not entirely unforeseeable benefit of saving the life of the man whom Williams was convicted of murdering eight years later. And if the pile of corpses also included those responsible for the other attacks described above, for me, that too would have been far preferable to what actually occurred.”
You’re being a little too PC here, if you’ll pardon my saying so.
Given as unalterable all the events that had led up to this point:
“…30 officers present were faced with about 150 very angry people, so it was not entirely unreasonable for Moulin to give his order to pull out. I’ve given similar orders myself, though admittedly in situations less charged than the one facing Moulin that day.”
Then it seems that you are saying, that a reasonable number of orders to desist and disperse should have been followed by a command to Moulin’s officers to open fire on the mob.
Is that about right? 30 officers with at least 15 rounds each are likely more than a match for a mob of 150 using rocks and bottles and impromptu clubs for weapons.
Long before the LAPD’s first magazine change, I reckon that that riot would have evaporated, as the people comprising that mob rediscovered the facts that they might be shot next, and therefore, that they could not, after all, get away with their criminal behavior.
Tactically, this likely would have ended that riot right there, but politically would not whoever had been faced with giving the command to open fire have been sacrificed, both personally and professionally?
You can’t blame Lieutenant Moulin for refusing to do the right thing tactically, when by doing so he would very likely have been run up the mainmast by his throat.
I was 6 years out of the Marines, having served in Southern California, when the riots happened. It is entirely likely,had I accepted the LAPD’s recruitment offer, that I might have been a rookie under Moulin’s command.
And it is for exactly such reasons as the straits he found himself that afternoon that was one of the reasons I declined LAPD’s offer.
(The other was the likely working environment on a Friday and Saturday night at LA County Jail for the two years…at least…where I would have had to spend as a turnkey).
Your city and state government out there were then, maybe still are, crap.(sorry, but no other way to really put it).
The proof of THAT pudding was the number of Angelenos who had supported the county/city gun purchase “waiting period” ordinance who frantically tried to buy the “assault weapons” during the riot that they had so happily condemned before.
Protect and serve such people?
No, thanks.
They scream at you to open fire when they feel endangered, and then as soon as they feel safe once again, they scream AT you for opening fire.
From where I sit, the only way to win that game is not to play at all.
The night the Vancouver Canucks lost the Stanley Cup finals a big crowd grew on Robson St. After a couple hours a few windows got broken. At that point a smart cop with a bull horn could have persuaded the good citizens, the vast majority, to keep it together. The crowd was ripe for something, a rousing talk about hockey would have likely been enough until they all got sleepy and went home. Instead, when the vandalism continued, the good kids joined the handful of hoodlums and trashed downtown.
Mr. Dunphy,
It is my understanding that Chief Gates wanted to prepare for trouble after the King verdict, but was told this would be “racist” and all request for extra officers, longer shifts and other prudent precautions were denied to him. Can you commet on this?
No, he can’t. He never does.
Yes, there was a request for an additional $1,000,000 to go to the LAPD’s overtime budget before the trial was concluded but the rquest was denied. One of the most vocal critics was City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas. He upset with Chief Gates to even presume there would be problems in the City as a result of an unpopular verdict. Mr. Ridley-Thomas was also very upset when he found out his council district office was burned during the riots.
Eric
The riots should be blamed on those who created the inflammatory environment: CNN!! As soon as they acquired the video of the beating, CNN showed only 8 seconds of a 90 second video. This was played several dozen times a day for many weeks. When the jury later acquitted the police officers, everyone was stunned as it was obvious from he tape (the 8 second clip that CNN showed) the officers were guilty as sin. What eventually came out was that the CNN was VERY selective in what they showed. During the trial, the tape was gone over frame by frame to the jury. When the tape is seen in its entirety, Rodney King’s innocence is diminished and the actions of the officers, although unprofessional, are very understandable. This was absolutely reckless, irresponsible journalism. With a political agenda. Since then, whenever tapes surface when non-whites are the perpetuators of a crime, CNN claims that they do not want to unnecessarily inflame (racist) whites before the facts are all in. CNN has shown itself over the past 20 years (Green Berets rescue mission using gas, staged assault rifle ban video, etc.) a dishonest and socially harmful news agency.
Y’know, one of the absolute funniest, and I mean deliciously, side-splitting howlers to come out of the ’92 riots was an audiotape of a white middle-aged gentleman of the press getting a mob mass beat-down.
On the recording, you can hear this utter fool wailing and squealing:
“I’m a reporter!
I’m a reporter!
I’m a reporter!”
…as though any of his assailants would have given a sh!t about some middle-aged honkie’s occupation.
Truly, hilarious stuff…and totally indicative of the mindset of privilege these slobbering half-wits indulge themselves in.
The widespread and revolting reaction of blacks during and after the “LA Riots”, along with the OJ Simpson verdict and its aftermath a few years later, permanently changed my view of blacks in America. Previously, beginning in my childhood, primarily in school (but also through the media), I’d been indoctrinated to “contextualize” their behavior, or to put it more plainly, explain it away, ignore it.
Despite the hard work Americans have done (among whites) to purge racism and rectify its ill effects, it became clear to me from those incidents (and others) that the American black community appears to swim in an absolute hogwallow of poisonous racism. Comprehending this helps in understanding the significance of Obama’s 20 years in Wright’s radical church, or Michelle’s revealing comment about being proud of America for the first time in her adult life. I don’t think that this is quite the conversation about race Eric Holder had in mind for his “Nation of cowards”.
I’m convinced that Obama & Co. are only letting a tiny glimpse of their hatred show. There’s an ocean of racist rage seething below the surface in this administration, and it’s impossible that it isn’t given fuller voice behind the curtain. This should also make us all wonder what kind of self-loathing is required for the non-blacks working within this radical Obama adminisration?
Virtually ignored is the other side of the Rodney King issue. High on PCP and after multiple applications of tasers King fought of multiple officers BEFORE the video segment which caused the controversy. One officer went to prison and LAPD morale cratered. Read:
http://www.amazon.com/Presumed-Guilty-Tragedy-Rodney-Affair/dp/0895265079
Can’t resist:
“It is the agent of social justice who is the original poetic figure, while burglars and footpads are merely placid old cosmic conservatives, happy in the immemorial respectability of apes and wolves. The romance of the police force is thus the whole romance of man…It reminds us that the whole noiseless and unnoticeable police management by which we are ruled and protected is only a successful knight-errantry.”
-G.K Chesterton
The Rodney King fiasco was the fault of the politically correct LA Police Commission, staffed by absolute incompetents, who knew zero about policing.
They ordered an end to use of the choke hold, with which a single officer, of average strength, can subdue anyone, no matter how big and bad. This is personal experience, as I used chokes many, many times,in my 42 years in law enforcement, beginning in LA. If King, who was “dusted”, had been rendered unconscious with a choke, that would have been the end of the matter. But the Police Commission had forbidden the use of the choke and the training manual required officers to use their batons and to continue that use until the suspect surrendered. King, “PCPed”, couldn’t even feel the blows and so did not surrender and so took a hefty beating. The officers followed orders, the jury recognized that fact, and the officers were properly acquitted for doing what they were ordered to do.Then the agitators in the inner city
neighborhoods, together with local politicos and with the compliance of a far leftist media, convinced a whole lot of very ignorant people that the police has behaved improperly toward this sweet, innocent man, on parole for armed robbery, who led police on a dangerous, high speed chase, under the influence of PCP, and then resisted arrest so effectively that it took several officers to overcome him,had been wronged. Therefore, the proper response of all responsible citizens was to murder, rape, rob, burn, attack, steal, etc., until the city was destroyed.
When the police first retreated in the face of this rioting the mob lost all fear, and ran wild. Up to that point the police had some degree of control. After that the mob was, and is still, in control, aided and abetted by City Hall.
LAPD never had near enough men to get the job done. Not then and not now. That was by political design; pandering to the left, whose sole technique is rabble rousing. But those in the right must never retreat and must act with draconian force when resisted or assaulted, else they will not prevail, and chaos will ensue. The ultimate choice is, a few Bad Guys with busted heads, or life in a jungle, where predatory animals roam at will. What is your pleasure?
As I recall, the police pursuit of Rodney was started by a CHP unit, a male and female officer. LAPD was just back up, providing assistance. That CHP unit, and others, didn’t jump into the frey to restrain the LAPD officers from “beating” their arrest, namely Rodney. I believe the carotid restraint hold, called a “choke hold” in error by the media, was still a CHP approved procedure at the time. Those two CHP officers could have restrained Rodney at any time when he was on the ground during the incident, happens all the time. It’s called assisting in the arrest, which, in point of fact, was their arrest. I presume assistance is what the CHP asked for when they started the pursuit of Rodney. Last I looked, the CHP don’t work for LAPD, and LAPD doesn’t have a monopoly on incompetence. And even though the restraint hold was no longer office policy, using that restraint hold is not a violation of the California penal code. I bet in retrospect that LAPD wishes their officers had violated their departmental use of force policy regarding the carotid restraint hold during that incident, and then none of the subsequent events, the trial and riots, would have happened.
The CHP officers were Melanie Singer and her husband. She was getting ready to shoot King when Koon and the other LAPD officers arrived and got control of the situation. Then, she rewarded Stacy Koon and the others by testifying against them and then she retired on full stress disability. A sterling performance.
I sent money to Koon’s family while he was incarcerated. He saved Rodney King’s life, miserable wretch that he is.
I knew the female CHP had turned on Koon, who seems to have been a decent fellow and no racist. I didn’t know she had retired on a “stress” disability. Wow. After putting herself in a spot where it might have been necessary to kill King, she turned on Koon, was soundly impeached at trial, and retired on stress leave? Choice, really choice. Koon on the other hand seems to have saved King’s life; made sound professional decisions; and after being acquitted, he was thrown to the wolves. What happened to Koon?
This again? Can’t we all just get along?
Well, we’d better be prepared. The trial of the BART cop that shot Oscar Grant will be held in LA this summer. This cop was one of several BART cops dealing with a mini-riot of out-of-control young men on New Year’s Eve 2008 at a BART station in Oakland. Oscar Grant was shot on the train platform by Johannes Mehrsele, who is now charged with murder. The cop insists he thought he had grabbed his taser, not his gun. The trial was moved to LA after a change of venue request.
We’ve already seen several small riots in Oakland over this. I expect that whatever the verdict, there will be riots in both LA and Oakland. Prepare.
6. Morton Doodslag (great handle): “This should also make us all wonder what kind of self-loathing is required for the non-blacks working within this radical Obama adminisration?”
One thing’s for sure, there is a very healthy dollop of white guilt that drives those participating in the Obama inner circle. It’s also what drives this country to put up with much of what we see coming out of some sectors of the black community, along with the ‘soft bigotry of low expectations.’
“As the LAPD prepares to honor former Chief Daryl Gates at his funeral, people ask how the riots might have been prevented or, failing that, diminished in scope.”
==========================
The riots would have been prevented in their entirety if the Blacks had self control.
To Dennis. No, we can’t. Because the Bad Guys amongst us want to enjoy victimizing us ,with everything from murder to loud radios. If we fail to interdict and punish their rotten behavior we will have to tolerate it. But it is intolerable. Ergo…
Perhaps it is not possible for those who have not pinned on the tin target and strolled the dark alleys of metropoli in the wee, small hours, to appreciate the seething hatred, the unmitigated malice, the demonic focus of a substantial portion of our population. And, therefore, not possible to asume an appropriate stance toward wrongdoing.
The fact is, one may not successfully negotiate with sociopaths. One may choose to submit to their tortures. One may attempt to convert them into decent human beings- but, by the very nature of what they have become, by long custom and habit; they are immutable. Or one may destroy them.
History shows that, in democratic societies, antisocial personalities tend to be be tolerated, more or less, until the proliferate, and take control. Then the former majority, having surrendered control to the satanists, suffers egregiously until the totalitarian system imposed by the psychopaths implodes.
Then the survivors get to clean up the mess and prepare to do it all over again. And again, ad infinitum. One solution is to identify and either condition or eliminate the psychos up front. Then there can be no difficulties down behind.Joshua, chapters 6-10 ,shows many examples of such an methodology at work.
I am reminded of the mobs of students running amuck, pretty much destroying all in their path, until they faced a group of National Guardsmen who were outnumbered and terrified.
When they opened fire, the riot at Kent State ended, as did much of the “wilding” against the Vietnam War.
Damien Williams, and his accomplices all should have been shot – it would have saved many lives, and countless damage.
I remember the Kent State event. Some students were throwing rocks at the Guardsmen. A rock is a lethal weapon. No sympathy here except for those who were hit by stray bullets.
“We’ve already seen several small riots in Oakland over this. I expect that whatever the verdict, there will be riots in both LA and Oakland. Prepare.”
Interesting personal anecdote: I was away from LA visiting a relative in Berkely when the Riots commenced. She lived in a predominantly black neighborhood not far from Emeryville and San Pablo Avenue – a nearly 100% black section of the Bay Area. Little reported at the time, but on Friday, day 3 of the LA riots, blacks began to riot and pillage in widely scattered areas across the SF Bay Area too — for those who don’t know, SF is nearly 400 miles from LA… Anyway, riots, looting, and assaults broke out in Berkeley, SF, Oakland, and Hayward (and even Seattle, if memory serves) at almost the exact same moment. This was 48 hours after LA “spontaneously” erupted in violence. My sister and I were some of the few whites around, and TWICE someone attempted to set our building on fire beginning at about midnite. I am certain we were targeted for being white. Had this happened where blacks were targeted by whites and asians leaving nearly 60 dead, the media would not have focused on the so-called grievance of the perps. Further, I will always be convinced that the riots were not just a spontaneous eruption of pent-up rage as depicted by the media. There was, no doubt, some of that, but the stage was well set by professional black grievance merchants on radio, in their churches, (think Rev Wright), and on TV by the likes of Rev Jackson and Rev Sharpton. Once the tinderbox was prepped and ignited by them, a network kept it going and tried very hard to make it spread.
Those black (and Leftist) agitators were never confronted or held to account. The wider network, if it exists, which attempted to parley the riots into something far larger has also never been explored, to my knowledge. Had the perps been white, dozens, if not hundreds would have been exposed and prosecuted. Since tens of thousands of blacks were the perps, the media and political narrative focused almost exclusively on the putative pretexts for the bloody racist black tantrum, and affixed all blame on the incipient (white) racism in America, etc.
The L.A. riots have a very simple explanation, they were caused by prejudiced black racists who think that all white people are exactly alike, all evil oppressors, a perspective which obscures real human beings and spuriously justifies assaulting any white person, including bread truck drivers just trying to earn an honest living.
It is the liberal media that has unnecessarily complicated this by trying to explain the riots in terms that avoid any mention of “black racists” because the existence of black racists contradicts the liberal affirmative action election platform based upon the dual stereotypes of whites as racist oppressors and blacks as the innocent, invariably non-racist victims of white racism.
Just leave sleeping dogs lie. It is boring to continue rehashing mistakesof the past.
Thank you, Dee. Now go back to sleep.
Morton: up here in the Bay Area, the Oakland mini-riots were coordinated and incited by a group from Revolution Books in Berkeley. They were very open about it on Indymedia here. I would agree that these “spontaneous” riots are well-coordinated in advance. When the media report that there is a verdict in the Grant trial in LA, the response from “the community” will be coordinated, and you will see “spontaneous” rioting in inner cities all over California. This is no coincidence. The difference this time is that some of us, at least, know what’s coming and will be prepared. I ride BART every day for work, traveling through Oakland. I expect violence on the trains against non-blacks.
It is interesting that both the Watts Riot (1965), and the Rodney King Riot (1992), started with traffic stops, on the surface streets of the City of Los Angeles, by the California Highway Patrol.
A close friend who worked non-stop riot suppression in ’65 told me afterwards that there was a great deal of heartburn within the LAPD towards the CHP for years afterward.
A crucial element of the context of the King riots, as of the earlier and much worse Watts riots, was the perception of black people that the LAPD was a deeply racist outfit that operated like an occupying army and that a whole series of police chiefs had promoted this situation. Thing is, as a white kid growing up in LA, that was my perception too. It wasn’t that I was some sort of radical fighting the Power. Indeed, in those days I was a conservative. It was simply a fact of life in LA that the cops were grossly biased–I recall one incident I witnessed in a mall where a couple of cops roughly rousted a black kid whose offense was being a black kid found near white stores. I certainly don’t chalk up everything that happened with the King business to Gates et. al. Part of the explanation for the behavior of the police was that there just weren’t anything like enough cops for a city of the population and area of LA and obviously the locals were drastically out of line; but Gates’ responsibility for what happened goes a long way beyond whether he did or did not make one particular command decision.
Just because it was your perception, doesn’t mean it was in fact reality. Time and time again, you have proven that your perception is not reality based.
There is no question that LA had a much smaller police force than Chicago or New York and still does. Chief Parker, who cleaned up the police in LA, used a military discipline to keep order and enforce the law. The very popular “Dragnet” TV series was based on the LAPD. I came to LA to college in 1956 and was astonished to find an honest police force after growing up in Chicago. Then came the 60s and the Baby Boomers revolted against all authority. The minorities took from this example the idea that it was OK. In Chicago and LA, it was safe to be a white person in a black neighborhood prior to 1965. That all changed and I think a lot of it had to do with self indulgent white kids setting an example for blacks in their anti-war riots.
I can understand Jim Harrison’s perception because it is the same as mine. Florence and Normandy was on my daily school route into downtown, so I understand the lay of the land. And the culture of the LAPD circa WWII. They were short-handed and took no back-talk then – Pachuco wars, anyone? – so why would they have changed later?
Bill, I have been looking for some time into what is now referred to as the “Zoot Suit Riots” in Los Angeles, and, quite frankly, almost everything people claim to know about it is so mixed up with leftist hogwash and Chicano pseudo-history that it is almost impossible to get an accurate account of events. It’s virtually the holy shrine of the Mexican-American community in LA and the never-ending grievance culture of their criminal castes.
But what I do know is that those Mexican gangs were very violent, and entirely capable of killing others and each other. Those same gangs also later morphed into arguably the largest and most dangerous gangs in the US and control large parts of the city with very little opposition; hell, they control the prisons, and virtually the entire CA narcotics industry. The leftist idiots who have such a problem with US serviceman kicking their asses have all but conceded huge parts of LA to sociopath thugs. I’ll take no-bullshit cops to Pachuco gang-bangers any day.
Also, blacks and Mexicans commit such a disproportionate amount of the crime is Los Angeles, that they naturally attract a great deal of police attention; I’m pretty sure it was the same 40 years ago except that the LAPD was a great deal more aggressive in preventing it.
Going by memory… and if any of my particulars are incorrect I would be delighted to hear about it.
Have you ever wondered why the most famous video (Rodney King) of the 20th century was never shown in its entirety on day time TV although it is only eleven minutes long; why only 87 seconds was shown over and over?
My mother diagnosed with cancer had moved in with me and brought her TV (I’ve never owned one) and unusually I woke up at 3AM one night and decided to go down stairs and proceeded to turn on the TV. The RK video was being presented by one of the accused officers (Stacy… forgot his last name, not sure I have his first name).
Shortly it was plain that I didn’t know anymore about the police procedure I was seeing on the vid than I would about brain surgery. Everyone is required to surrender to officers upon request, if they resist the officer is not to strike a head blow (potentially fatal) but to “punish” the man’s legs and arms with blows until he complies.
RK was rolling on the ground, it was presented that that is a technique learned in prison to “roll and officer off his feet” and grapple with him. A large percentage of officers are shot with their own weapons in the midst of “grappling with a perp”, no officer allows it if it is possible to avoid. RK as I recall is six-four, no one to grapple with.
The media showed the same few street arrest seconds over and over, playing the fools in the audience for the fools they were.
The officers involved were acquitted at their first trial where the vid was shown to the jury and LAPD standard procedure was explained and that the officers followed said procedure. Riot. The officers were tried a second time (double jeopardy) for depriving RK of his civil rights. Convicted! The trouble with a double a jeopardy trial (well one among a hundred!!!) is that the defense now has a almost insolvable dilemma. Their first “presentation” won an acquittal but the prosecutors know your plan. If a new defense “presentation” is made will it be stronger or weaker.
Segue on down the years… wake up everybody and look at what’s really going down.
rules of engagement have consequences. another instance of this was the colorado school shooting where the police stood around outside the school until the two kids ran out of ammunition.procedures there have since been changed.the public is well aware that armed men can clear buildings thanks to tv news showing live action in fallujah. force must be met with greater force. the number ratio is less important than the trained force versus a mob.
Re: GaGunner
Los Angeles Times April 29, 1992, Shawn Hubler Staff Writer:
“Black civic leaders on Tuesday accused Chief Daryl F. Gates of inflaming racial tensions, saying he has publicly denigrated them and “hasn’t helped people feel more at ease” by setting aside a $1-million contingency fund for police overtime should violence erupt after verdicts in the Rodney G. King beating case.—
Ridley-Thomas, however, said the group was more concerned about the Police Department’s reaction to the verdict than the community’s response.
In particular, he (Ridley-Thomas) cited reports that Gates has set aside $1 million in a police overtime account to respond to any civil unrest triggered by the verdict.
“We should not repeat the errors of the past. A massive show of force would be a mistake,” Ridley-Thomas added. “These are very tense times.”
Of course this was the Morning of the day the riot started. The LA Times was overcome by a strange amnesia about this little controversy within hours. I don’t recall it ever being mentioned again in riot and post riot coverage. Whether you are a Daryl Gates admirer or not it is hard to escape the conclusion he was going to be a scapegoat whatever he did.
Wow, snipe. That story reminds me of the joke about “Muslim leaders expressed concern over backlash following tomorrow’s terrorist attack”.
Thanks,
I already knew the answer. I was surprised Dunphy did not address it in this article or the prior article on Gates death. I was in the LA area during the riots and remember Gates warning of trouble before the verdict and the reaction against him for daring to suggest the black community might be upset if there was no conviction of the police officers. However, I also recall the majority of those that rioted were gang bangers and illegal aliens. Not preachers, construction workers, bus drivers, and other members of the black working class. It has always been a mystery to me why the black community continues to allow their so called leaders to place the albatross of violent felons around their neck. I have alwasys said that if King had been white, the white community would have been cheering the cops on and would have been ticked off if he did not get a beating. And yes I am aware that he was not truely beat.
19. Scott — Good luck, I hope it doesn’t happen. Stay safe, and don’t let your guard down. We were astounded at the attempts to burn our apartment, and always had very good relations with the nearby neighbors. In fact, one of our friends next door got his gun and helped hold vigil all night to prevent a third attempt. It’s chilling to think that someone was just lurking and waiting for the pretext to murder. Soon afterwards I’m glad to say my sister moved out and away from that situation.
snipe, some of us, like elephants, never forget!
Anonymous Quote…Governments are ALWAYS evil, they exercise unaccountable force.
People ALWAYS raise evil people and make them Iconic. Michael Jackson, Che Guevera, Anna Nicole, those two halfwits, who shotgunned their parents to death, in California, more than a decade ago.
I heard an Hippie attorney on with Chrissie Matthews, sniffing that Saddam was LYNCHED!
Evil people are innocent little VICTIMS, and the Big Bad Cops and our EVIL MILITARY, PICK ON THEM AND MURDER THEM.
ALL IS VANITY!
http://www.narcissisticabuse.com/evil.html
EVIL
M.Scott Peck and Sam Vaknin disagree on the whether narcissists are EVIL.
No one wants to talk about it. But if they do, the talk is of Hitler, torturers, child rapists(CIGARETTES, TRANS FAT, DAD, TRIG PALIN, NIXON, MCCARTHY, GUNS, MEAT, CHRISTIANS, BIBLE BELIEVING JEWS, THE WEATHER ET AL.)
Is it evil to belittle, denigrate, scapegoat, and make fun of someone until they are demoralized, subjugated, and traumatized? Is the verbal and emotional abuser who keeps his victim in suspense and fear an evil person? Is the person with the need to control others evil? According to M. Scott Peck, M.D, psychiatrist and author of The People of The Lie, the answer is yes.
According to Peck, most of us view a situation in light of how we are affected by it and only as an afterthought do we stop to consider how it might affect others involved; we do eventually consider the viewpoint of the other.
Not so those who are evil. Theirs is a brand of narcissism so total that they seem to lack this capacity for empathy…. We can see then, that their narcissism makes the evil dangerous not only because it motivates them to scapegoat others, but also because it deprives them of the restraint that results from empathy and respect for others….The evil need victims to sacrifice to their narcissism, their narcissism permits them to ignore the humanity of their victims as well. ..The blindness of the narcissist to others can extend beyond a lack of empathy; narcissists may not “see” others at all.
Evil people celebrate when a good man or woman dies…Jerry Ford, Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, Tony Snow.
Evil people want to KILL EVERYBODY AT FOX NEWS…They are incapable of changing the channel.
I don’t even mind that I pay part of Billie Moyer’s salary…I STILL get to turn the channel. I’m afraid, this isn’t going to be for much longer, though.
Evil people foist themselves on us, every second of every day…GO GREEN, or WE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU!
Ever heard of the French Revolution? How about Tiananmen Square?
Rodney King should have been euthanized, back then, the feral rabid dog that he is. Instead, the Left is getting ready to put his puss on a stamp or coin.
See you all at the guillotine…Have a real NICE DAY… <;-}
Addendum;
Why did GOVERNMENT backed Hutus, slaughter 1,000,000 Tutsis?
Ronald Reagan? Sarah Palin? Zionists? Rich People? CEOs? Big Tobacco? Big Pharma? Deadbeat Dads? The Patriarchy?
And, why did Bypass Priapic Bill Clowntin and the CommUNists, sit on their bums and do NOTHING?
Why have the CommUNists, been raping children all over Africa and lording over the greatest human disaster, since WWII, in The Congo, since 1962?
One Wimmin’s Health Care Provider, gets shot dead, and it’s time to KILL EVERY CHRISTIAN WHO LIVES. Forget about 50,000,000 unborn babies, flushed in the name of Saint Maggot Sanger, the bi-sexual, Marxist, Eugenecist, Racist, Demoral addict, alcoholic.
The following pic is not a bloody one at all, but truly heartbreaking, if you are a Human Being.
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh205/dishmael_bucket/tinyfeet.jpg
Body Snatching Liberals, have oh so much empathy for blood thirsty terrorists at Gitmo.
I’m sorry…I keep thinking of stuff. Caffein is Manna From Heaven.
If Rodney King ran against Sarah Palin tomorrow, I’m pretty sure we would have our SECOND AFRICAN AMERICAN, SLAVE, VICTIM OF WHITE OPRESSION president.
Charlie Manson’s race war was called Healter Skealter(how it was scrawled in blood on Sharon Tate’s wall.)
I believe that Bernardine Dohrn, wife of Bill Ayers, cheered when she heard that the Manson gang had stabbed the pregnant Sharon Tate with a fork. ( Bill Ayers is a close friend of President Obama.)
Jack, thanks for the analysis and update. Moulin sounds like too many supervising cops from small agencies I’ve known, so it boggles the mind he made it that far in LA. Promoted two grades beyond his competency level instead of given training or the sack. Happens way too often. Never understood the mind-set of TO’s who skated their probies through rather than washing them out after repeatedly failure to meet expectations.
PAthena,
Please remember, that Saint Nelson Mandela loved Communism, was a murdering terrorist his own bad self and his wife, Winnie, murdered several people, by, “necklacing.”
The person was bound, and a tire with gasoline was put around his neck and torched. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz
There is a slaughter of white people going on in Africa, since Aparteid, has finished…Robert Mugabe, calls it, “Land Reform.” Sound famaliar?
Warning, GRAPHIC PHOTOS of white genocide, in this link from Bare Naked Islam. Post Aparteid, in S. Africa.
http://barenakedislam.wordpress.com/2010/04/05/where-is-the-outcry-from-hollywood-celebrities-for-a-boycott-of-south-africa-now/
Evil people KILL good people. It’s not the other way around. If we even DARE, fight back, they howl like banshees. It’s the nature of EVIL!
I found this RK black scam an idiotic circus. They police did their job, the female officer that was about to end RK’s day should have been relieved and then fired, (not for threatening RK, but just being an idiot) but then this is not PC, after all, she is also a minority who appeared to be very incompetent.
I remember those days and have some memory of watts, I had no sympathy for the rioters in either incident. Return fire or defensive fire quickly sorts out the low lifes, I know, as I lived in a black section of Fort Worth for 15 years. The fact that all the kiddies knew the crazy white guy was armed pretty much kept me safe.
A good many states now allow concealed carry and I expect that their will be very little rioting in those states so CA, kick back and enjoy, you aren’t armed and can’t protect yourself. The blue states should prepare themselves for this sort of stuff, as it is coming and you folks all being super libs, will not be able to protect your self due to your idiotic laws on guns and self defense. You won’t be able to buy firearms either, waiting period. Excuse my lack of sympathy, second thought, don’t!
Just getting a bit of long held anger off my chest.
As to the bit about S Africa, no surprise their, it was obvious how this would turn out once every one fell all over themselves to elevate a terrorist, mandella. I had already watched this game played out in what was formerly Rhodesia. It is once more being played out in S Africa and I do hope the whites get around to dialing in a bit of justice, though I expect the west will send in aid to the blacks, which are a very incompetent bunch and will probably need help. Brits will be to first to que up, along with obama.
As Doctor Walter Williams suggested some time back, get everyone one that was not born in africa along with all their money and NGO’s and let the locals sort it out. Slaughter is the black mans game, let the games begin. Though they do not seem to appreciate the tendency of whites to arm up.
Old Sarge,
If memory serves, The Poor Slave Rioters, pulled a Hippie type truck driver out of his rig and beat his brains in with bricks. This, caught on video tape…The goofy SOB came to court and forgave them. The Slaves were acquitted.
In Inner Schitties all over the country…The Monuments To The Demon-ocrat’s Welfare State, EMTs have to wear body armor, and there is a high degree of alcoholism among them.
Locally, here in New Hampshire last week; Some poor street urchins(White Punks On Dope,) went into a convience store to buy beer. They hadn’t reached their majority, so the manager of the store sent them packing.
A fracas ensued outside and the manager physically pushed back some pedestrians, so that the Urchins wouldn’t run into them with their car.
The manager was fired, from her job.
Whittaker Chambers said…Innocense seldom utters OUTRAGED SHRIEKS, GUILT DOES.
THE AUTHORITIES ALWAYS DEFER TO EVIL!
Yeah, I remember that truck driving incident. I also remember that a few started returning fire on the morons shooting at the fire department guys trying to put out the fire, the return fire had all those little minorities heading for safer pastures, after all, it is not proper for the victims to return fire.
Some day our country will wake up to the fact that tolerance and excuse for bad behavior does not fix or correct anything. Though, after seeing them elect obama, seems it is likely to be a lot further out then I figured. To many seriously stupid voters.
Amerika, just loves hateful, atheists(sexular obsessives.) I almost wept, when Al Franken-Stein’s Monster, was elected…He IS HARVARD SMART, DON’T'CHA KNOW? A Mensa IQ, trumps all. We Believers, are STOOOOOOOPID!
Neo Christian Pacifists, Squeal…You Are Taking That Out Of Context!
Atheism and Islam are more beloved than Christianity. In 1899, Winston Churchill said of Islam…Mohammadenism is as dangerous in a man, as hydrophobia is in a dog.
How many of you have heard this before? Evil shouts the TRUTH, into oblivion.
Because I owned Rodney King as a slave, I have to die.
Judas Iscariot was the first Lying, Thieving, Murderous Liberal…WHO CARED ABOUT THE POOER..*
We, who follow Jesus, are akin to Lazarus.**
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12
John 12 (New International Version – UK)
Jesus Anointed at Bethany
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.
2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
* 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,
5 Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.
6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
7 Leave her alone, Jesus replied. It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.
8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.
** 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.
10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well,
11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.
▲INFiLTRATOR▲
Infester…Have a NICE DAY, Cupcake.
Did you scrawl this to me, the other week?
5, better go double up on ur meds! PIG!
If so, I did what you suggested, and I’m much better now…OINK! May I suggest a good exorcist, for you? <;-} Hugs..
Barking Mad Leftist Lunatics.
From the time I was 17, I had a mentally ill older brother, Bob. Bob had a genius IQ and was bipolar, paranoid, schizophrenic, delusional and narcissistic, never worked a day in his life, chain smoker, alcoholic, prescription drug addict…A LIBERAL. Bob died 10 years ago.
Beneath my nic for this comment, is one of my blog entries showing raving lunatics howling at me. Most comments were directed to me after the nuts had read something I’d posted on a previous day. In other words, I’d had no interactions with the goofballs on the previous day. Here are the first and second comments;
bkbbk5 wrote, in response to 4merly_a_person:
1., and christopher columbus murdered American natives in the name of his GOD! and so does our government! Christianity and islam/muslim/catholic etc. all USE religion to control women< some even believe women are a birth defect, somethin went wrong in the womb? of a woman? so does that mean men and ONLY men are the pure?? and women shouldn't exist?So they all came from a woman ( a birth defect so what does that make them???) Shove your religious rhetoric lies up ur ass! Evolve as if PEOPLE mattered!
2, what if Obama is jesus???
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Who remembers that witch from Code Pinko, who attacked Condi Rice?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmi7crM4LuI&feature=related
Evil is a mental illness. Medea Benjamin…Shrill, self loathing, fire breathing lunatic. How many precious American troop's lives have been lost to her treason?
Sad thing is, NOBODY will condemn her and her coven.
Trawling_4_Fake_Conservative_Loons
▲INFiLTRATOR▲
This is how God works in my life. Carl Jung named this, “sychronicity.”
In-Fester, the Demonic Cuckoo Clock on Steroids, landed right beneath my comment about Judas the Liberal.
It just don’t get any better’n this!
And, just as often as not…I get barred from forums, for flattening these little dust bunnies…
In-Fester…Bad Dog…Stay…Stay!
Here are two typical Liberal men(sic)
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh205/dishmael_bucket/SaveTheVagina.jpg
(From the previous comment)Christianity and islam/muslim/catholic etc. all USE religion to control women< some even believe women are a birth defect, somethin went wrong in the womb? of a woman? so does that mean men and ONLY men are the pure?? and women shouldn't exist?So they all came from a woman ( a birth defect so what does that make them???) Shove your religious rhetoric lies up ur ass! Evolve as if PEOPLE mattered!
And a little Mensa Boy, for Piece (UN.) I enhanced the little fella a bit, with a photo shop program. Pretty good, if I do say so myself.
http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh205/dishmael_bucket/Pleople-1.gif
Not surprising that the attempt to revise Gates’ history is well under way. Ultimately, the call not to be ready with a tactical alert was Gates’, and he screwed the pooch. It’s hard to imagine Gates was concerned with liberal council members’ opinions — he was more afraid of the media.
Amusing flat-earther comments about problem-free chokeholds and such, and while Gates might have been popular with hard-cases in uniform, he was a net negative for the city.
Yeah, LAG…Gates was a real stinker. I believe it’s best to give cake and ice cream to the slaves for restitution and, to get them to LOVE us.
Rudy Giuliani brought the Big Apple back from being Sodom and Gomorrah and he was hated for it.
Actually, for reparations and acts of contrition…Move ALL police precincts, out of the Demon-O-Crat’s cess pools, in the inner schitties.
Ban slavery and real marriage. Everybody gets a telescreen with MSNBC on, every second of every day. <8-D. Buckle up, FLOSS, BE NICE!
bkbbk5? We would offer y’all condolences, but we don’t speak “crazy”.
You need to keep your appointments with your Shrink, and to take your meds.
Those things under your bed, with long, skinny, black arms ,are Republicans. As long as you vote for them and say only nice things about them, they won’t hurt you. Promise!
You need to know that your real enemies are those hippie types who got you to vote six times in the last election. The ones who wrote “obama” in the palm of your hand so you couldn’t forget who you were for. But please don’t shiv their tires or dime their fenders, just because they hate you and will eat some of your cookies while you are sleeping, and slurp away most of your Forty when you aren’t looking. What they really need is to talk with policemen. So, try to think mof something the police would like to talk to them about, and then encourage the nice policeman to contact them.Okay?
Turn On The Lights..Stop Fornicating…Stop Hating Us..Get Sober And Sane!
http://4merly-a-person.livejournal.com/184253.html
I’m not trying to win a popularity contest. I have about 5 people on this earth, who even care, that I stay walking around on it.
Ayn Rand got it partially right, except she was an atheist.
I had a Harvard professor in my first AA group in the Square, whose Higher Power was the Great Pumpkin.
My blog has over 500 entries and ONE comment, so I post in other’s.
I don’t DEBATE with people. Lunatic Liberals can go on for days on a Yes/No question, and STILL not answer it.
Check it out; as has been previously stated the LAPD is and always has been sorely understaffed for a city the size of Los Angeles. Currently the manpower count for LAPD is at about 10K (the majority not working the streets), while NYPD has roughly 40K and Chicago has upwards of 25K. Think about it, people, this is basic math. With a city the size of L.A. being served by a police department of less than 10K, the chances of rank and file field staff being involved in a number of high profile incidents during their career is staggering as compared to officers in other big city departments. In spite of what the liberal media would have you believe, pound for pound and ounce for ounce the LAPD is one of the most effective and highly trained police departments in the world; they have been doing more with less than any other department, and how much longer they can maintain the modicum of control they have in Los Angeles is anyone’s guess. The truth is L.A. is a bubbling cauldron just waiting for the next magic incident to occur so it can explode even beyond anything that we’ve seen in the past. The social pressures that we see today (low income, lack of jobs, illegal aliens draining the system, disenfranchised youths and massive cultural clashes) can only lead to yet another perfect storm of anger and violence … and the only wall against the upheaval will be the overworked, understaffed but still proud LAPD. If you happen to live in Los Angeles keep your fingers crossed that when the next riot occurs — and it will — you or your loved ones will not be caught in the eye of the storm.
I respectfully disagree that 30 LAPD officers vs 150 suspects called for retreat. This was a poor decision and was cowardice. I am an active LAPD supervisor, a veteran of the 1992 LA Riots and countless other crowd control engagements over my 24 years in law enforcements. Rarely in any crowd control sistuation are the numbers near equal or in the police officers favor. Most often, the officers in such situations are out numbered 10, 20, or even 50 to 1. A 5 to 1 ratio in this incident was not unreasonable. A strong leader would have gathered his resources, established a skirmish line with 15 officers while the other 15 retrieved their helmets and their partners helmets. A help call should have been broadcast to bring additional ressources to the area. A dispersal order issued and assuming noncompliance, the crowd should have been forcibly dispersed. To break a crowd of 150 into smaller more managable groups is not difficult. LAPD officers are quite adept at such actions.
Had Moulin displayed some sense of leadership this situation would have been handled. Moulin displayed no positive or effective leadership. The only thing he led was a disorganized and shameful retreat. Moulin was a coward and unfit for command. He should be ashamed of his actions that day. He claims he was cocerned for his officers’ safety. I know many who were there that day and were shacked by his action of retreat. They were prepared to engage and prevail. Moulin was only worried about his own skin as the era of political correctness began. Moulin should stay in hiding in Mexico, nobody cares about him or wants to hear from him.
This supervisor is absolutely correct. I worked with Moulin as a police officer and you couldn’t trust him. He was whiner and his only goal was to promote (Murphy’s Law applies here) and he would step on anybody to get ahead. Retreating is not out of character for him.
So much said by so many who have no idea what being an LAPD Officer involves.
Daryl Gates was chief because he was good at testing and hung on tight to Chief W. H. Parkers coat tails. He was good at what he did, and that was sitting behind a desk. He states in his book that he was present at 103 rd and Central during that time in August 1965. I was there for 4 straight days and never saw him. Now, that was a riot. We won 34 to 0. Yes we parked our Motors and rode guard on firetrucks. And we shot back. Sgt. Stacy Koon proved that when in trouble call a Sgt. He did what he was supposed to do and look where he wound up. No wonder the Lt. in 77th pulled out. If he had done what Koon’s did, he and his officers would be in federal prison. Am I sorry Daryl died, yes. Am I sorry he was forced to retire, no. He was no Chief Parker and no Ed Davis. Thanks to Gates the chief is no longer civil service. Maybe now that there is a man like Chief Charlie Beck at the helm, the voters will see that his job again needs to be a Civil Service position with it’s protection and not under the thumb of the Mayor.
Jack:
Well written article that contained very little truth and many comments taken out of context and distorted.
I answered your email the same day I received it, as you seemed desperate to the point of begging me for my comments! It is obvious from your article that you received my response, even though you tell your readers that you did not! You made another choice to ignore and to include less than accurate accounts of my comments that were included in my email to you. I would expect nothing less from someone who hides behind a screen name.
The persons who attend my services will be personal friends and family members only. I am not the least bit interested in having a pony show attended by a bunch of law enforcement dinosaurs!
In the meantime I need to get on with my life and enjoy the time I have left. I will make no further comments with those cowards who hide behind screen names and dare to say things behind my back that they would never say to my face!
I wish all the many good women and men in law enforcement a safe and productive career. Study hard and change the system from within!
Michael N. Moulin
First, I applaud you for the fact you did not lose any officers because I am aware they were targeted for attacks. Second, I think Gates hanging the riots on your shoulders is unacceptable and pure politics-not to mention it was his police department and his ultimate responsibility. Finally, I am hopeful that faced with the same situation and knowing what you know now, you would consider making alternate tactical decisions and put officers at Florence and Normandie to stop the lawlessness. Your previous comments indicate you may have made the exact same tactical decision to leave Florence and Normandie, thus absent of police presence. If that is true, I would like to hear more on that particular subject. Respectfully-Jim Lewis.
Mr. Moulin,
Any desperation you detected in my e-mail to you was not intended. I present the message I sent to you below so that others can judge for themselves:
Dear Mr. Moulin,
I am the LAPD officer who wrote the Pajamas Media piece regarding Daryl Gates. I’ve been with the department for around 30 years, the better part of it in this or that division in the south end. I write under a pseudonym because for the last ten years I have angered two police chiefs, two mayors, and any number of other people who would prefer to see me silenced.
I’m working on another column to follow up on the Gates piece, specifically dealing with the outbreak of the riot. I’ve seen your interview on the Nightline episode “Anatomy of a Riot,” and I’ve read Lou Cannon’s book. I’m in complete agreement with you when it comes to the LAPD having no protocols established to deal with what happened, for which Chief Gates bears the ultimate responsibility. But I nonetheless question the decision to abandon Florence and Normandie even as helpless citizens drove through that intersection only to be dragged from their cars and beaten nearly to death. We are expected to go into harm’s way to protect the innocent.
In fairness to you I wanted to give you the opportunity to address this issue if you’d care to before I write the piece. Also, I know how easy it is for someone to leave a comment on an Internet site and use any one wishes. I assume some of the comments attributed to you are genuine as they comport with previously published interviews you’ve given, but I’m curious if all the comments appearing under your name are genuine.
Thank you for your time.
All the best,
Jack Dunphy
I did not receive your response, either that day or any day. You say my column “contained very little truth and many comments taken out of context and distorted,” but you provide no specifics. I’m happy to correct the record and obliged to do so if you can show me where I erred.
As a retired LAPD supervisor I would like to comment that Lt Moulin and Captain Jefferson made a terrible mistake by having the officers retreat from the riot’s flashpoint in 77th Division. More officers should have been immediately deployed to the area to quell the violence. Moulin’s decision was COWARDLY. Moulin and Captain Jefferson were both INEPT leaders. Officers should have flooded the area and busted heads..or SHOT the armed bastards/gangsters that were running amuck with bats, bottles, rocks etc…
Lt Moulin was never much of a cop. He was weak….he was a book worm that promoted cause he memorized the Dept Manual. He was NOT a leader and was NOT LIKED as a person. I personally thought he was a weirdo. Jefferson was an okay guy, but shaky..he was a worry wart that struggled making simple decisions…(I know cause I worked around him when he was a Lieutenent).
Chief Gates was the greatest Chief of Police the Los Angeles Police Department ever had. As Chief beck commented at Gate’s memorial service, “Chief Gates was the LAPD, and the LAPD was Chief Gates.” THE RIOTS WERE NOT THE FAULT OF CHIEF GATES.
If moulin and Jefferson were condemmed for their lack of leadership (cowardice is a better word) they deserved it. Their actions or lack thereof, were disgraceful. P**s on them.
The fault of the riot does not rest with one man, or an organization. It rests with those responsible for their illegal behavior. Gates, Lieutenant Michael Moulin, and the LAPD were not to blame for the riot. Despite what the men stated publicly about their actions, or inactions, in regards to the riot there was obvious room for improvement. As in all facets of business, sports, or other professions, there was definite room to improve upon performance, especially at the LAPD.
Inexcusable faults and poor decisions made by the LAPD and the City of Los Angeles that first day of the riots in April 1992 helped the rioters get started. Poor decisions and inadequate responses to the repeated, desperate, and obvious needs of community members led to a tremendous loss of life and denigration of law of order of historic proportions. One only has to watch and wonder where was the LAPD during the Florence and Normandie crimes being broadcasted worldwide.
In addition to some poor initial planning, there were also poor decisions to let officers go home that day. Add to this, communication problems and you have the potential for real trouble. In the LAPD today, the actions of those decision makers in April 1992, to include those made by Chief Gates, are viewed with great scrutiny. Too much or too little force is an argument that could go on for eternity, especially in one of the most liberal minded cities in America.
One of the first principles taught in the military is the difference between a lawful and an unlawful order. It was made crystal clear that following unlawful orders was not the duty of any soldier/Marine and those following those unlawful orders would not be shown any quarter or lenience when it was determined their actions were illegal, immoral, or unethical.
This is brought up because being ordered to stand down, reorganize, or muster when innocents are being slaughtered, robbed, and beaten (on live television) is a prime example of an absolutely unlawful, immoral, and unethical order. Can one think of a better order to disregard? I cannot.
Disregarding an order because it is viewed as unlawful, immoral, or unethical is relevant here, perhaps more than any other law enforcement situation in the last half of the twentieth century. On the first day of the riots, many officers and supervisors disregarded their “lawful” orders to muster at the Command Posts (CP’s). CP’s are viewed by Staff officers as a place where one begins to logically and orderly address a problem. In rank and file of the LAPD it is a place where Command/Staff officer goes it alone (while senior officers stand by) and wrings his/her hands looking for the answer to the problem on top of their boots because they are not qualified to answer it correctly because the majority of their careers were not spent in field operations. CP’s are not places where one wants to stay too long in the LAPD. In addition, it is opined that CP’s within the LAPD are commonly viewed as places where nothing is accomplished, but much is pondered. In other words, to stay away from the CP and have the momentum/freedom to address problems as they are observed is preferable by most direct action police officers/supervisors.
To go into a situation where injury or death was likely or imminent was the sworn duty of every LAPD officer that day and some answered the call (Officer Nee in the Nightline video). To sit and watch crimes in progress from a not so far off Command Post does not excuse the neglect of duty and failures by many in the LAPD that day. Many LAPD cops did proceed against orders to other areas and rescue citizens and businesses. But this was against the official Department orders as evidenced in the Nightline story. Once again, limited success in spite of management’s obtuse interference.
Even today, eighteen years later, many LAPD managers do not have the training or experience level requisite to engage an angry crowd, lawfully and effectively. The training provided (despite MacArthur Park) is limited, one-day training and it is opined, like much of the recent LAPD training that is “check-the-box” training in lieu of real participatory and recurring training necessary to make experts of field commanders. Most veteran officers would report that most command and staff officers at the LAPD are far from crowd control experts, despite the riots of 1965 and 1992.
Another factor that will contribute to future poor performance is the sure to follow acute criticism and wide-spread second guessing, both from within and outside the Department, in regards to how any crowd management and crowd control situation is handled. This is especially certain when special interests and/or minority community members are involved. One would be hard-pressed to find a winning situation for a mid-level leader at the LAPD faced with such odds stacked against them.
Proper tactical decision making is not bestowed upon one by the virtue of rank. Because one is a Police Chief or a Watch Commander, it is not implied that the decisions made by that person will be the correct ones. Tactical decision making and the benefits of those are earned via a life-time of proper training, education, and real-life experiences. To blame Gates or Lieutenant Moulin for the riot is similar to blaming a British soldier or British general for the American Revolution. The discontent and disenchantment of the population, especially in South Los Angeles, was palpable and actionable.
Decisions were made to protect officers above the obvious needs of the citizens. I opine that was unfortunate and avoidable. Little was done to edit those orders in those crucial early hours or in a timely fashion, despite the live television coverage being beamed worldwide on that fateful April night in 1992. The police had a sworn duty to protect the community and to dodge or somehow evade that duty is not honorable, laudable, or acceptable. To have a police leader state he would have done the same thing if faced with the similar circumstance is shocking. To be capable as a leader and as a police officer requires constant, sober, introspection and a desire to improve. One that says they would do the same thing in the face of those tragic consequences which resulted in the largest riot in recent American history is not being true to his duty or soberly looking at his rightful place in history.
It’s simple. The blame for the riots rests with one person. Rodney King. Citizens are required to pull over if an officer attempts to stop them while driving. Mr. King failed in his civic duty. The result: every action he took from that moment on required a re-action from law enforcement. Mr. King was the one in complete control of events that night. Subsequent events were a direct result of HIS choices.
I was working daywatch at LAX that day and heard the verdicts on the radio on my drive home to Glendale. Moulin’s actions that day were recounted to me by a young copper I partnered up with months later. 36 straight hours at work he said and absolute disbelief at the ineptitude of Lt Moulin. RIP Chief, your legacy will never die.
OHH Mikey you sound so tough these days hahahahahah As stated above you were never respected as a policeman or as a man. Don’t worry about your services being attended by a bunch of old LAPD types you seem to dislike so much….With just your good friends there you can have it in the same place you had your retirement…a phone booth…Why is it you are always the victim? You have yet to RESPOND to anything. You are either defending yourself by pointing the finger at others or glorifying yourself. Somethings never change……
Thanks for the followup article Jack. Shame that so much time is being wasted on this guy though. Even more of a shame that there are many more future Moulins rising through the ranks as we speak and not enough true leaders. Mexico is a good place for you Mikey. I would have left the country too if I were you. Easy to hide in the forums and blogs like a true keyboard tough guy when you are in Mexico. Of course you use your real name you can’t mess up your reputation much more than it already is and I doubt anyone in Mexico really cares who you are. I would love to see you defend yourself here with something more than the pathetic posts you have made in the past.
Hi colleagues. I think Jack Dunphy is one hell of a writer and I appreciate his reporting and insights. I don’t know of all the various conflicts some may have with him, so I won’t dare get into that. I know I don’t have any quarrel with him. I was in a unique position in that I fought with Chief Gates on many issues for the 12 plus years I was at the League. But for the last 18 years of his life our relationship was entirely the opposite. We spoke many times and corresponded often which was personal and revealing. I will always consider that confidential and will not write about any of it. I’m commenting only on the Blog of MTR JOC who stated that he never saw Chief Gates during the 1965 riots. I did see him. I was at a fire station around 103rd and Compton (may not be the exact location)and Gates was ,I believe, a Commander at that time. There were about 60 officers with me at the fire station and we could see the idiots running around destroying everything. We all ran out after everyone in all different directions. Gates couldn’t stop us. I know it wasn’t a great move on our part, tactically, but back then we didn’t have much in the way of tactics except we wanted to do something. I saw much during that time, which I will also never reveal or write about. I just wanted to let someone know that I did see Gates there. So at least that was one sighting of Gates, officers may have witnessed others. Thanks, George
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