Uprising & Unrest

The other LA: the Watts Rebellion of 1965, the beating of Rodney King and the 1992 uprising, and the long, unfinished story of policing and protest.

Part of Los Angeles

22 moments in this segment.

1. 1936 — Photos 86679 large WPA 401 West Los Angeles Police substation. Los Angeles, 1936. From the Wikimedia Commons historical-photo collections.
2. 1938 — After the police raids on Alameda Street (1938). Crowds gather after a 1938 police raid — the city’s harder edge.
3. 1943 — Servicemen stop a streetcar, Zoot Suit Riots (7 June 1943). Sailors searching a streetcar for zoot-suiters during the 1943 riots.
4. 1965 — Watts Riots, 1965 (AP archive). The six-day Watts Rebellion of August 1965.
5. 1965 — Watts Riots 1965 — Universal Newsreel footage. The original newsreel of the six-day Watts uprising.
6. 1965 — Rare footage of the 1965 Watts Riots (NBCLA archive). Archive news film of Watts, August 1965.
7. 1965 — 1965 Watts aftermath — rare 8mm colour footage. Amateur colour film of the Watts aftermath.
8. 1965 — "Watts — Riot or Revolt?" CBS special, 1965 (part 2). More of the 1965 CBS Reports footage.
9. 1972 — Watts Towers of Simon Rodia "The Ankh Within.". Los Angeles, 1972. From the Wikimedia Commons historical-photo collections.
10. 1972 — Watts Festival Next door to the Towers of Simon Rodia Allows an Ascension of Another Kind. Los Angeles, 1972. From the Wikimedia Commons historical-photo collections.
11. 1978 — KTLA News on the Watts Rebellion (UCLA Archive). KTLA news footage preserved by the UCLA archive.
12. 1992 — LA riots — live coverage as it happened, 4/29/92. The live TV coverage on the day the verdict dropped.
13. 1992 — Raw footage as the 1992 riots erupt (NBCLA archive). Unedited news footage of the city in chaos, April 1992.
14. 1992 — LA riots — the first 24 hours after the verdict (1992). News footage of the first day of the uprising.
15. 1992 — 1992 riots — live KABC reports. Live local-news coverage of the riots.
16. 2017-04-18 — L.A. Burning: the riots, 25 years later (A&E). Los Angeles, 1992.
17. 2017-06-15 — LA 92 (full documentary, National Geographic). The definitive documentary on the 1992 unrest.
18. 2020-06-15 — George Floyd protests at City Hall (2020). Los Angeles, 2020.
19. 2020-06-15 — George Floyd protests, downtown LA (2020). Los Angeles, 2020.
20. 2024-06-02 — Zoot Suit Riots erupt, 3 June 1943. Period coverage of the 1943 riots.
21. 2024-07-26 — LA '92 — the aftermath of the riots. Los Angeles, 1992.
22. 2026-03-01 — The Rodney King beating — 1991 news footage. The 1991 news report on the King beating.