Riots research paper
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Kiazhane 1
Kiazhane Chavez
Emilia Ianeva, PhD, JD, LLM
SOC 3480
Research Paper
Police Brutality/Killings that ended with Riots
Violence as defined is any behavior that is designed to inflict injury on people or
people’s property. In general people turn to violence as a reaction to various situations
without thinking twice. There are two types of violence illegitimate and legitimate.
Illegitimate violence (illegal) are acts of homicide, rape, assault, and terrorism. Legitimate
violence (legal) are acts that are justifiable law enforcement actions and militarism. Where
would a riot be placed? Illegitimate or legitimate? A riot is violent disturbance of the peace
by a crowd causing a public disturbance. Riots don’t arise out of nowhere. There is a
meaningful purpose to the bigger picture as to why a certain community would want to lash
out in a violent outrage. In today’s society it is mainly over the police. Police? Yes, the
police are on the rise to have committed the most killings and they are supposed to protect
us. So why do we have police to serve and protect when it seems they kill and scare civilians.
The target of these police killings/brutality are inflicted upon unarmed African American
males. “The likelihood that a black person killed by police will be unarmed: Twice as likely
as a white person killed by police, according to the Guardian.” (25 facts).
In my analysis I will be going over three incidents that is somewhat recent that has or
had major publicity. These incidents deal with unarmed black men, police and their actions,
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and most importantly how the public around the world and local communities deal with the
ongoing heartbreak. They are in order of a police brutality incident were the male was not
killed, no justice for police actions and negative outcome. The second is a case of police
brutality ending with a murder, with no justice, and negative outcome. Lastly a case of police
brutality that ends in murder, having very little justice, and a much more positive outcome. I
have chosen this route to show the different outcomes of police beatings and killings.
In April of 1992 there was a massive issue between the Los Angeles public and their
police department. Before my time there was an incident between a male driving a car and
four policemen. In his arrest the situation became violent quickly. Rodney King was beaten
with batons by four officers with the last names of Koon, Powell, Briseno, and Wind.
Rodney was struck over 50 times while he was down on the ground. No one is saying that
King was in the right to proceed in a high speed chase with the police. Also being under the
influence, on parole and resisting arrest. He could have stop and this whole situation could
have been avoided. Do you think being beaten with four batons over 50 time is
demonstrating excessive force? Can this be classified as police brutality? Yes, it can. There
can and was an alternative force that could have been used.
Leaving the civil rights movement, it can seem like the police are the ones who
commit these “hate crimes” instead of the general public on black Americans. Police
brutality has risen significantly in recent years and has been more known to the public now
due to social media. This can make people become outraged and want to fight. But even with
the flash of a camera or motions from a video it is not enough proof to convict an officer for
an act of violence. The video was released to several news networks by a man named George
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Holiday who in fact recorded it. This is what made the case high publicized by being played
repeatedly over the television. Watching such a hateful act over and over brought anger to
the LA areas. Anger was brought out more from the minority groups like other Africa
Americans and Latinos.
With the video being the main evidence used you would assume the officers will be
proven guilty. But that was not the case. The case on trial wasn’t not fair from the beginning
since there were no African American jurors, ten were white. This gave people no hope but
still wanted justice since they have video evidence. In fact, “this slice of video vérité
ultimately served to acquit the officers, sparking the 1992 L.A.” riots (Rabinowitz, P 2015).
The ruling for the officers were not favored by the pubic in South Central Los Angeles. This
caused immediate outrage and it turned very violent very quickly. Rioters started at the scene
of the incident at hand and blocked the freeways with protesting. While doing so they started
to fight other motorist on the freeway. Within the city stores were viciously wrecked and
fires were started. These violent evens became bad to the point that the National Guard and
Military had to get involved to enforce safety. The riots did not do good for south central
because innocent people were killed and injured.
To fast forward into time, mid 2014 was a start of something vicious. There was an
unarmed African American teenager walking in a suburb of Ferguson MO. No one knows
the truth about what had happened next but we do know there was a man named Michael
Brown lying face down in a pool of his own blood. From the beginning there was something
suspicious about the situation at hand that sparked outrage in Ferguson. Again I’m not saying
that Michael was completely innocent in an event leading up to the shooting. I say this
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because he was caught on camera stealing cigarettes and also ran away from the police
Officer Wilson (some witnesses say). But does that mean that you have to die over a petty
crime? No. There were witnesses that stated Brown was not moving toward or charging
Officer Wilson when the fatal shots were given out. This incident just adds to the stigma of
police brutality and deaths of unarmed black males. Plus, it started the first wave of the
vicious violent riots.
The grand jury decision did not help in stopping the riots but simply adding more fuel
to the fire. This grand jury in comparison with Rodney King actually had three African
Americans. Giving hope to the people in receiving justice. The decision came to not indict
Officer Wilson on five charges in the shooting of Brown. That’s when the second wave of
riots started to occur. There were numerus reports of fires, objects being thrown on officers,
looting, and business being vandalized. It became so bad for the city that the Governor had to
declare a state of emergency and depend on the National Guard to protect the city. Having
the National Guard in Ferguson and also adding a curfew only made matters worse instead of
improving. Even though the riots did have a bad turn out and some feel justice is not served
there was positivity shed on the black community. There was already a movement being
done called Black Lives Matter from a previous incident with Treyvon Martin. Browns case
added to the movement and gave African Americans more fuel to become one and equal not
just to cops but people with “white privilege”. There was a special movement on social
media for Brown with the hashtag #HandsUpDontShoot.
There has been a rift between whites and blacks since the time of slavery. African
Americans have never been equal to whites even in today’s time. The term of “white
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privilege” has been around since 20 th century. Blacks have always been a step behind. There
is a reason why whites have had more progression after slavery to be one ahead of the blacks.
“White average families have had parents or grandparents who … were able to procure a
little house maybe with an FHA or a VA loan … that were off-limits to people of color”
(Wise, T 2008). In doing this there were a large amounts of money in equity and assists to
whites. It was also shown that these loans were given out to families that lived below poverty
level, giving them a chance to become middle class. There was nothing like this done for
African Americans but they are highly frowned upon now for receiving housing assistance
from the Government. Section 8 and HUD are the most popular reduced housing vouchers,
that have been received greatly by minorities.
With minorities receiving the most help from the Government like section aid or food
stamps there has been a whirlwind of bias and stereotypes created. Bias and stereotypes are
mostly created by people who are racist and judges a whole race on a certain incident with
one person from that race. This can be very difficult and frustrating to minorities because
everyone wants to live the American dream but it will always be a challenge. Being a racist
is a learned behavior and a mindset because it is taught as a value or a way of life. So if a
police officer comes from a family of white privilege (because they are predominantly white)
and carries certain racial stereotypes then it would be common for them to target certain
races while there on the job. The two top race that are targeted are African Americans and
Latinos. When in fact “white males are four and a half times more likely to actually have
drugs” (Wise, T 2008) on them while driving. With a slim chance of them being stopped in
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the first place but with profiling their car would not be searched because it is assumed that
they are following the law.
Tim Wise (an author) had conducted his own little experience/curiosity conducting a
training workshop with a police department. He would ask series of question just to see
where the mindset of the officer is in. One question that shows that some/most police officers
have bias or racial issues; “what’s the first thing you think when you see a young black or
latino male driving a nice car in your neighborhood and they all, without fail, and without
exception will say drug dealer” (Wise, T 2008). These types of statement can really get your
mind accept that there may never be equality even in today’s generation. To compare he goes
on and asks questions about the same scenario with a white male. “What's the first thing you
think when you see a young white male, same age, driving the same kind of car, in that same
community, and they will say without exception, without hesitation, without fail, spoiled
little rich kid, daddy probably bought him a car” (Wise, T 2008). Instead of me just rambling
on about how blacks are less than whites I gave a perfect example of the mindset of police
officers on race. Police officers are sworn to protect and serve but i t seems they may be only
willing to serve their own kind. It was not stated that there were any African American police
officers who thought the same way. Since it was not mentioned it’s safe to say there were
none if any in this particular police department.
Our last incident of discussion is generally the same as thee other two but with a
different stem of the police. On new year’s 2009 there were a group of people taking the Bart
home from a party. Bart is a form of transportation similar to the subway in the Bay Area. On
Bart there was an incident between two groups that could have turned physical. The Bart
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officers of course went to check out the situation to see if they can calm every down and
diffuse the situation. But they done it in an aggressive manner since arriving onto the
platform. They were yelling loudly and hitting the train with their batons. From the
beginning camera phones were recording the incident since the Bart train stopped at
Fruitvale station. Further in the incident African American males were being taken down by
the officers and being forced face down into handcuffs. At first a man named Oscar Grant
and his fellow friends were not cooperating with the Bart police and that made them even
more agitated and aggressive. Oscar and his friends were yelling bad at the officers since
they feel they were innocent and that the officers were too rough with them. To sum up the
situation Oscar friends started to slowly cooperate. Since Oscar seemed less corporative, one
of the two officers tried to get him down by getting on time of him forcing his knee into his
bad. With a small struggle the officer Mehserle reached from his gun and shot him in the
back, facing the ground, with his hands behind him. The other officer did not use his firearm.
It was reported that the Bart officer intended on grabbing is taser instead of his gun. And that
statement itself cased a lot of eyebrows to raise since the shooting was caught on camera and
seemed intentional.
This trial was strategically planned out. First the case was brought to be moved into a
whole different county where the culture of the people is different. A case that happened in
Oakland (Alameda County) was move to Orange County. Alameda County of the Bay Area
is a very liberal county with such places other than Oakland that include Emeryville and
Berkley. Orange county on the other had can be seen as very high class and conservative.
Not the mention it is a predominantly composed of White Americans that are republicans;
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they don’t take too kindly to other races and their hardships. To make matters even more
unfair just like Rodney King there were no African American on the jury. During the end of
the trial the judge had “dismissed the first degree murder charge before closing arguments
were read” (Norris, K 2012). But referring back to the video footage it’s not hard to tell that
Mehserle is guilty of a crime because even though Oscar was resisting he was not physical
hitting the officer or charging the officer. The stance of taser and gun confusion is
outrageous. The jury came to the decision that officer Mehserle was guilty on involuntary
manslaughter for the shooting of Oscar Grant and that the other participants involved did
receive a small amount of money for their distress. This verdict shows that there can be some
justice given to the family’s wither or not the verdict desired was not given. Many people of
Oakland and all surrounding areas did protest and caused a mini riot over the minimal
punishment given. many had held signs with the worlds, Justice for Oscar Grant.
Police brutality and a guilty justice system not a new thing in the black communities
all around the US. Some may say that if the case was handled in Alameda County and had
even at least one African American juror that the case would have had a harsher punishment
for the officer. After the hatred for the Bart police and protesters and rioters calmed down a
positive turn had accord. There were many artists that had come together in Oakland to
create a mural for Oscar Grant and his family. One artist alone “painted the face of Grant
with vibrant colors …on a 14 th st storefront … reading Rest in Power Oscar Grant and All
Power to the People” (Ferrer, Christine Joy 2009). It was great to see that at the time the
people were coming together in a positive way in Oakland and around. Because it can be
very easy to continue to protest, riot, and retaliate. Another great thing that was done was a
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foundation was created in Grants name. The “Oscar Grant Foundation” is a resource for
youths that are at risk and want to make a change in themselves by turning their life into a
positive one. They offer help with teen pregnancy, crime between teens, helping them stay in
school, and most importantly reduce police use of excessive force. This foundation does that
donations.
Over time people due tend to get over situations that happened to the community once
the hype is over. Slowly the community “memorialize Grant, not as much ... because most
know that his tragedy will be replaced many times over” (Norris, K 2012). Grants life and
experience became known not only in California but the World. There was a movie made for
the life of Grant in 2013 titled “Fruitvale Station”. The movie is independent and won
numerous awards and is currently on YouTube, Amazon, Netflix, and Redbox’s. The movie
is a portrayal of the last day of his life leading up the shooting, during the Bart incident, and
the outcomes after the fact. It is truly amazing.
In my research I have examined three incidents that deal with the police and African
Americans. After these incidents occurred there was outrage by the public creating a riot and
adding to current movements that support blacks. I did this to show that yes the public had
moment of outrage but there can be a positive outcome after the fact. And yes I do know that
every case of police brutality does not have a riot or protest to show anger in their
community.
In the Rodney king incident there was a very powerful and vicious riot that lasted for
some time. There were protesters that went from blocking the freeway and being physical to
people in their vehicles. To the streets were there were numerous fires, vandalism, and harm
Kiazhane 10
being done to other cops. I guess you can say the minorities in LA were highly upset at the
incident, trial, and verdict. There were little to none positive outcomes. I believe the other
thing that changed were just a few police policies but there was nothing positive and
commendable that came from the community. Michael brown similar to King had a very
publicized situation and vicious riots that lasted some time. There was anger slipping from
the community in Ferguson since the second the shooting happened. The case seemed very
shady from the beginning. The riots became so bad during and after the trial that there was
extra security being called to the city to help make it safe. One positive that came from this
incident was the movements that were added to and created. It made the Black Lives Matter
more known in the news and another created just for Brown was Hands Up Don’t Shot. The
last battle with the police and blacks was the incident with Oscar Grant. Out of the three this
incident had the most positive turn out and I’m so proud because the positivity came out of
Oakland. At first there was hell to pay from the Bart Police to the people of Oakland. This
was because it was trial and investigation was shady and strategized just like the others. But
after the trail people were still anger of the verdict but they made their creativity fight for
them. There were numerous murals and foundations that were created and even a movie.
This is very big for the city of Oakland because the city is highly stereotyped.
Concluding my research, I feel police officers and bart police need to be retrained on
a few things. First they should take sensitivity classes so there first thought to mind in a
tough situation to not shoot to kill. Another training should be on breaking the cycle of
racism and bias. Because it unbelievable that the police are very stereotypical and that’s the
reason why certain races are target more in poor areas or if they look out of place in a rich
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area. Lastly gun and taser training because there was confusion on which is which in the
Oscar Grant case. Another could be to promote using the taster more to stop police shootings
and ending lives prematurely. African Americans need to learn to feel safe and protected by
police and not feel hunted. Programs need to be put in place so that blacks and police officers
can have a better relationship and can help each other out.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
25 Shocking Facts About the Epidemic of Police Brutality in America. (n.d.). Retrieved February 29,
2016, from http://mic.com/articles/119970/25-actual-facts-about-police-brutality-in-
america#.7Qp2GeXkE
Chaney, Cassandra, and Ray Robertson. "Racism and Police Brutality in America." Journal of African
American Studies, 17.4 (2013): 480-505.
Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict (electronic resource), editor-in-chief, Lester Kurtz.
( EBook available on the CSUEB Library Website
Ferrer, Christine Joy. "The Art of Protest: The Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project." Race, Poverty &
the Environment, 16.1 (2009): 40-43
Gilbert, Robert J.C. "The Riot of the Mind." New Blackfriars, 87.1010 (2006): 357-363.
Norris, Kennen"Justice and Time: Before and After Oscar Grant." Boom: A Journal of California, 2.2
(2012): 100-104.
Rabinowitz, P. "Street/crime from Rodney King's Beating to Michael Brown's Shooting." Cultural
Critique, 90.90 (2015): 143-147.
Olzak, Susan, Suzanne Shanahan, and Elizabeth H McEneaney. "Poverty, Segregation, and Race
Riots: 1960 to 1993." American Sociological Review, 61.4 (1996): 590-613.
Tim Wise on White Privilege : Racism, White Denial & the Costs of Inequality. Northampton, MA:
Media Education Foundation, 2008.