What happened to the Koreans in Riots of 92'?

[SilentStalker]

Does anyone know or remember if the Koreans using the 2nd Amendment to protect themselves and their stores in the riots of 1992 actually had to use lethal force or ever fire a shot? If so, whatever happened to them? Were there ever any charges? The reason I bring this up is because we had an interesting discussion at lunch today during work. My workplace actually encourages concealed carrying. The thing is a lot of people have hesitation about every actually using their weapons even in an absolute need to situation simply because they fear the drama and possible suits against them after the fact, possibly even jail time. What are your thoughts on this? Let's say someone has a legitimate shooting to save their life, is it really fair for them to have to use their entire life savings and then some to prove their innocence? Personally, I feel like this is where our system really fails honorable citizens. The system seems to favor those in the wrong these days. Anyways I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on this.

 

[Leanwolf]

SILENT STALKER - " Does anyone know or remember if the Koreans using the 2nd Amendment to protect themselves and their stores in the riots of 1992 actually had to use lethal force or ever fire a shot? If so, whatever happened to them? Were there ever any charges? ..."

Yes, they fired quite a few rounds when the rioters tried to invade their stores. There is actually video taken by some teeeveee news outlets that show them shooting at the thugs. If I remember correctly, one Korean man was killed by one of the rioters.

I don't recall any arrests of Koreans who fought to protect themselves and businesses.

I lived in Los Angeles at the time and was in law enforcement.

Just my recollections. That was a long time ago in 1992, and things were wild around L.A. during the riots. A lot of things happened that were never reported or mentioned by the media.

L.W.

 

[sauer1911]

I often think about the pros and cons of CCW in a part of the Southwest that doesnt allow you to have a CCW. God forbid you have to use what you have trained and armed yourself for.

"I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6!" is the often heard motto.

But the cost of litigation and idiotic scorn by those who are on the fringes of the action are almost too much to bear.

You almost need an air weight for protection and beat feet quick with your brass intact.

If I move south of here I can go thru the process of CCW, If I got north of here I can even have more than 10 rounds in a mag.

Close to retirement, time to look for a better place to live and protect what is mine.

be safe

 

[BSA1]

Realistically speaking in a large scale, violent riot such as R.K. I
Don't know how it could be investigated. The crime scene and most of the evidence will be moved and destroyed by the rioters, hard telling what will happen with the victim, not to say when the police and EMS will be able to respond to the call let alone waiting for hours to do any investigation of the incident.

It will be informative to hear other legal opinions but in the words of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. the "clear and present danger" standard would seem to apply under these circumstances.

 

[SilentStalker]

^^^ Good points but if it ever was brought up after the fact would those points stand up in court?

 

[Leanwolf]

SILENT STALKER - "^^^ Good points but if it ever was brought up after the fact would those points stand up in court?"

You'd have to consult with an attorney who practices criminal law in Calif., for an answer to your question.

By the way, do not ever think that in the 1992 Los Angeles South Central riots that ONLY the Korean storekeepers used firearms to protect themselves and businesses. It is just that that area was where the large majority of the teeeveee pap dispensers had their cameras. Nice and graphic and all that.

L.W.

 

[Bullseye57]

Accidentally ended up in South Central mid-1996 one night - Made a wrong turn out of the local VFW in Long Beach. Very little had been rebuilt in that area after all those years. Many vacant burnt-out buildings still stood, no street lights, deserted streets, and everything quite a mess. We realized our mistake when one of the street signs said "Normandy" and the other said "Florence". Picture three white guys in a van, pulled over to the side of the road with the dome light on, and a map stretched out searching for a way out of there. I mentioned that we were in the exact spot where that one guy got his head smashed with a brick on TV. We bugged out rather quickly when we realized where we were, and didn't stop for any lights or intersections making our way back to Long Beach. Survived that night in spite of ourselves.

R,
Bullseye

 

[jim in Anchorage]

The Koreans where definitely shooting-

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3be_1237333767

 

[danez71]

Yes, they fired quite a few rounds when the rioters tried to invade their stores. There is actually video taken by some teeeveee news outlets that show them shooting at the thugs. If I remember correctly, one Korean man was killed by one of the rioters.

I don't recall any arrests of Koreans who fought to protect themselves and businesses.

I lived in Los Angeles at the time and was in law enforcement.

Just my recollections. That was a long time ago in 1992, and things were wild around L.A. during the riots. A lot of things happened that were never reported or mentioned by the media.

L.W.

I lived in northern Orange County at the time, this is exactly what I remember too.

 

[Midwest]

Here are several threads from Calguns regarding the LA Riots, Korean Store Owners and the 15 day waiting period to get a gun during that time.


http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-68257.html

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-788483.html

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-103700.html

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/archive/index.php/t-68257.html
.

 

[Cee Zee]

It wasn't long after the reports of what the Koreans did came out that I learned what weapon they were using and I had one of my own - the SKS. The price was ridiculously low of course but more than that it is a very effective weapon no matter how you slice it. If you are looking at a mob of rioters coming down the road toward you it's best that you're prepared. Even though I lived in a rural area it was still an area that had a large gang influence at that time. It was motorcycle gangs then and I've had some problems with them. Now it's Bloods mostly. And the riots of 1992 weren't limited to LA. Just down the road from where I live now there were riots. There have been several more riots in that city since then too (Cincinnati). There were very bad riots there in 2001. The city responded by throwing money at the people who did the rioting. It's no wonder we have these problems. I mean they literally threw bundles of money at the problem with a jobs program, parks, you name it. If the city could find a way to spend money to benefit the people who did the rioting they did it.

I sure as heck never want to be put in a situation where something bad could happen to my family like the things that have happened in various riot situations around the country. But even more I don't want to be caught flatfooted if it does happen.

BTW I do believe the AR is a better system than the SKS but I have a big investment in my SKS and 7.62 x 39 ammo. It's not a huge jump in effectiveness to go with an AR and in some ways it's actually a step down. But I'd like to have the better accuracy and the ability to fire more rounds without heat becoming a major issue. Still I figure if I get to the point that heat really becomes an issue in a life or death situation I'm already done for anyway. The Koreans did a fine job of defending many of their stores with the SKS. I can't argue with that.

Also AFAIK none of the Koreans were ever prosecuted including the ones that were caught on video shooting. I think they were afraid of opening up a whole new can of worms and starting the whole ugly mess again.

 

[Propforce]

Lone Wolf:
Yes, they fired quite a few rounds when the rioters tried to invade their stores. There is actually video taken by some teeeveee news outlets that show them shooting at the thugs. If I remember correctly, one Korean man was killed by one of the rioters.

I don't recall any arrests of Koreans who fought to protect themselves and businesses.

I lived in Los Angeles at the time and was in law enforcement.

Just my recollections. That was a long time ago in 1992, and things were wild around L.A. during the riots. A lot of things happened that were never reported or mentioned by the media.

L.W.

I was in northern LA county on the edge of Ventura county at the time and commuted into the San Fernando Valley everyday for work. EVERYONE I knew back then was ARMED, legal or not, even someone who lived as far as Simi Valley. They were teaching their wives & older children how to work a shotgun. In SFV, there were armed guards on roof top of malls. Almost every mall in LA/OC have armed guards on rooftop back then (as I recalled).

I followed the riot situation live on TV and followed the movement as my parents lived in W. LA at the time. I was prepared to drive down them with my guns to protect them. But the "mob" was stopped in the City of Bevely Hills, as the BHPD did not back off and I saw them pull their guns and went after the mob. The mob scattered of course.

The riot set fire on buildings and waited for the FD to show up, then they fired upon the firemen & the fire trucks so the FD had to pull back.

The LAPD had a big bad black eye for pulling back and they knew at least a couple of hours prior to the Jury announced the verdict too. I was on the 101 fwy and saw a stream of PD cruisers driving at fast speed toward LA. Each car was full with officers in the back so I knew something was up. Sure enough, a couple of hours later the Jury announced the verdict and all hell broke loose!

You should see downtown LA from the air. I flew in & out of LAX a few days later and the downtown area was still burning. The whole scene is like a Hollywood movie set.

I do not recall any of Korean merchants were brought up on charges. It would've been a major news at the time. I did not think the DA had the ball to charge them in light of what has happened.

 

[Mauserguy]

Some of the merchants were later arrested and charged, but, as I recal, mostly the charges were eventually all dropped for lack of evidence or motivation to prosecute.

There were other arrests and prosecutions made of various people later identified from videos, but they were mostly the rioters or people using the riots for personal gain. One nice young man was named Football. He never got what he deserved.
Mauserguy

 

[Leanwolf]

MauserGuy _ " Some of the merchants were later arrested and charged, but, as I recall, mostly the charges were eventually all dropped for lack of evidence or motivation to prosecute. "

The Koreans' lawyers got those charges dropped quicker than a cat can lick its paw. The charges were also political as certain black" leaders "pressured the L.A. D.A., a feckless wimp, to prosecute the "evil" Koreans.

"Football" Williams who nearly killed the truck driver, Reginald Denny, by beating him with a concrete block, should have gone to prison for 30 years ... but again, politics interfered as it so often does when race is involved.

And so it goes. :banghead:

L.W.