FIERCE RIOTING IN LOS ANGELES SLUMS

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30829, 14 August 1965, Page 15

FIERCE RIOTING IN LOS ANGELES SLUMS

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LOS ANGELES, August 13. Six thousand rioters went on a wild rampage of destruction in a predominantly Negro slum area of Los Angeles last night.

At midnight Police Inspector John Power said that the rioting was under control, but police in force patrolled the littered, smoking streets. Earlier, police with automatic weapons moved into the area to break up the worst rioting in the history of the city. They made at least 17 arrests.

“Women have been screaming for help to the police switchboard. Stones are flying and ‘Molotov cocktails’ are being thrown at anything that moves,” a police spokesman said. It was the second consecutive night of mass unrest, triggered off on Wednesday night when a white policeman arrested a Negro on a drunken driving charge. The crowd of about 1500 rioted for eight hours, damaging homes and stores and injuring about 40 people. Last night, in spite of pleas by the Mayor, police, clergymen and social workers to remain indoors, crowds began gathering along Avalon boulevard, the core of Los Angeles’ Negro area. Virtually 100 per cent Negro, the crowd swarmed into the streets, blocking traffic. Youths began throwing rocks, and one was quoted as having said “Anyone with any sense will stay out of here tonight, because we’re

really going to show the cops.” As the crowd increased in size, 80 police entered the area and were immediately followed by 135 sheriff's deputies. Later another 240 officers were called in. Dozens of cars were overturned and at least four set on fire. One man was badly beaten after his car was involved in a four-car collision. Blood streaming from his head, he was pursued from his car to the front of a house, where several people attacked him. Guns Drawn The police said that the 40th Armoured Division of the California National Guard was placed on stand-by alert. Negroes as well as whites were struck by rocks and debris, as were police cars and even ambulances. At the focal point of the rioting along Imperial and Avalon boulevards, the police were said to be backed into doorways and crouching behind cars with their guns drawn. This area was described as

“a mass of fire trucks, police cars and overturned benches.” Flames danced eerily at several points in the six-block area sealed off by the police and sheriff’s deputies. Men and boys ran in packs, darting through the shadows. Burglar alarms clanged, shouts and screams pierced the warm, humid night. Helicopters clattered overhead. Newsmen at the scene described it as sheer chaos. There were police chases, then brawls when officers caught their quarry. The flow of reports was so heavy at police headquarters that it was virtually impossible to sort them. False Alarms Both police and firemen said that they were lured to certain places by false alarms, then ambushed. A police sergeant in charge of directing patrol cars said five cars had been shot at. Many residents stayed in their homes with their lights out and their doors locked and bolted. An hour after the rioters began shooting at officers poised behind a barricade, a phalanx of 25 policemen secured one block of Avalon boulevard. Then 50 sheriffs’ deputies and California Highway patrolmen joined in a

military-style march along the width of the street. Police said that they intended to secure the entire section of Avalon, where the trouble has been greatest during the two nights’ rioting, and a radio call went out for tear gas guns to help the advance police force. A deputy police chief stressed the determination of the police to end the siege. “We’ve been playing games with these kids long enough,” he said.