The Watts Riots
During the Civil Rights Era, there were a lot of public demonstrations that were positive or negative. These events fueled the Civil Rights Movements and how black people were treated in American society. The Watts Riots, which took place in 1965, were one of the negative events.
On August 11th, 1965, a 21-year-old black man named Marquette Frye and his stepbrother Ronald Frye had been pulled over by police in the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. They were driving their mother's car when they were pulled over by police for suspicion of intoxication.
When Marquette had taken the sobriety test, he had failed, leading to his attempted arrest. He had not wanted to be arrested, so he resisted with the help of his stepbrother Ronald. The scene had begun to gather a crowd of onlookers, leading to more involvement, especially since the police had harmed the brothers with violence. The brothers' mother had even showed up to prevent the arrest of her sons. Leading to more police force and even more witnesses watching the scene. Both sides had started to get involved, causing more violence, and allowing the news of the scene to spread.
After the catalyst of the Frye's eventful arrest, the riots had begun in the Watts neighborhood as well as its surrounding areas. The riots lasted between August 11th and August 16th in 1965 (6 days). Things had gotten so out of hand that in order to suppress the unrest 14,000 members of the California Army National Guard had to be brought in.
There had been an estimated 34,000 people who had participated in the riots. with the results of 34 deaths, 1,032 injuries, and 4,000 arrests. The destruction of around 1,000 buildings and over $40 million in property damage had also taken place.
The Watts Riots had been the city of Los Angeles' worst disturbance until the Rodeny King riots in 1992.
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