Author: Chase Chiamulera

Foreword: I’m posting this because I’m still working on articulating my own posts, and as a result, they’re a bit sparse on information. These are my own notes I have on my google drive account, and I’m currently trying to organize them into meaningful content. Should anyone care to read them, “Norn Iron” is shorthand for “Northern Ireland/Northern Irish”.

Breakdown of broad similarities between LA riots and Bloody Sunday/ensuing troubles

Long-term mutual hatred between minority population and the po-po
Strong socio-economic divide between minorities (poor and unemployed catholics/blacks and hispanics) versus well-to-do-majority (Prods in norn iron, Whites in L.A. and to a lesser degree Koreans)
Police made up of a completely different, richer, more socially-dominant demographic than the people they policed. Also, lack of good will between the two groups and long history of gratuitous violence and intimidation. (prods policing catholics/mostly white folks policing blacks and hispanics in LA). Source for Norn Iron aspect is “The Plain truth”.
Hostilities peaked at the fever pitch of an economic downturn that disproportionately hit minorities (Catholics around Bloody Sunday/The Troubles in general, Blacks/Hispanics in 1992) (The plain truth/Chris commission/[Especially for economic factors of buildup to 1992] “To rebuild is not enough”)
Here’s the main divergence: once riots and civil unrest break out, national troops are called in. In LA, this helped tremendously. In Norn Iron, this exacerbated the situation as there was a layer of unfamiliarity between the Brits and Northern Irish, especially Catholics. One thing immediately apparent was the healthy respect people in LA had for troops (http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/rio.htm) versus the historically-rooted antagonism in Norn Iron, especially amongst republican actors who held an “invasion narrative” which condemned the UK army as an outside force. (MacStiofan interview, for starters)
In some broad sense, the impetus for both situations (LA riots/Norn Iron catholic protests in 1972) were police beating minorities (LAPD policy of beating the crap out of suspects epitomized by Rodney King vs. RUC mistreatment of Catholics epitomized by beating the piss out of them at peaceful rallies). (CHRISTOPHER COMMISSION)
“Additionally, a fierce culture of independence had been deeply ingrained within the department’s leadership, to the degree that its leaders routinely refused to plan and coordinate emergency response with other agencies: it was inconceivable that the LAPD would ever require outside assistance.”
(http://strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/parameters/Articles/97summer/schnau.htm)
RUC and LAPD see themselves as 1hunnit percent independent from their superseding military organization prior to joint operations (in one case, the British Army, in the other CANG/Federal National Guard).
Also, RUC/norn iron in general were fiercely independent, seeing England as a “fickle ally” (see p.119 of Belfast Diary)
One important discrepancy: Prod paramilitaries have no analogous bodies in LA (No White-Power militias in league with LAPD/National Guard/Federal government).
Maybe Koreans are a (very bad and loose) analogy?
Another: Brit troops, though initially welcomed as a “third sphere” force, may have been thought of by the republicans as being in the same governmental sphere as the RUC due to their “invasion” narrative (Frontline Kelly Interview). Contrast LA, where bloods, crips, hispanic gangs, and unaligned civilians all had respect for federal troops and/or state troops and/or state troops perceived as federal troops (LA Riots and Operation Rio).
Investigate: LAPD gave (???) some HUMINT to nat’l guard troops, and RUC gave similar to British Army troops. Investigate discrepancies in info given by RUC to Brit Army vs LAPD to Nat’l Guard
Important to note: JTF-LA was made up of 1st Marine Division, CANG, and Army 7th Infantry Division. Also, CANG was federalized. This is imperative to sealing the deal for analogies to Brit Army being called into Norn Iron
Crips/Bloods acted in a sophisticated manner befitting paramilitaries (http://fmso.leavenworth.army.mil/documents/rio.htm)
Some material on buildup to 1992 (http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archives/cityinstress/reb/i.htm)
Some material on LAPD 1992 aftermath (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/later/decree.html)
Some material on RUC buildup (COMPTON REPORT; selections from Bloody Sunday and the Rule of Law in Northern Ireland).
Some material on RUC aftermath ()

late 60’s/early 70’s british reports on policing

Compton report
Inquiries into police brutality, five techniques, manifestations of policing in Norn Iron in general.

Morality in Law Enforcement: Chasing “Bad Guys” with the Los Angeles Police Department (Academic source; links pending)

page 802 contains indications that LAPD cops would often produce labels for everyone that made it easier to justify actions against them and/or portray said people as those who might act violently or adversely for no good rational reason. Also in this and the previous page, it’s established as rhetoric used in po-po training.

p.806: Policing is found in the overwhelming majority of cases to be ineffective in radically reducing crime rates of their jurisdictions.

“Christopher Commission”

p.34 and summaries: LAPD cops have 5-11% of po-po who either engage in excessive force or think it’s warranted when that’s clearly not the case. There were some other very startling and very usable figures preceding this, too.

p.49-54 are all GREAT for cops just randomly beating the shit out of suspects or administering vigilante “street justice”.

p.40 suggests that the 5% problem group is likely much larger than just that.

p.56: Really high instances of unwarranted shooting/beating after a dude’s apprehended. GODDAMN.

Racial makeup of LAPD pre-1992 was not representative of LA latino and black minorities according to pages 70/71 of the Christopher Commission until 1981. However, page 70 makes it clear that although by 1990 the LAPD was 37% minority (Latinos, blacks, asians, and basically the makeup of South Central LA other than whites), there was still a long-standing schism between the police department and its city.

Rodney King drove recklessly to avoid a DUI and initiated a high-speed pursuit (anywhere from 55-115 miles per hour at different points) that found its way off of the Foothill Freeway and into neighboring residential neighborhoods [NYTIMES/Us news]. He was intoxicated and assaulted the five officers who attempted to arrest him when he got out of the car. Immediately after he charged them, they detained him more effectively, cuffed him, and lay him flat on his belly. After this, they spent around another minute beating him with truncheons. The first 10 seconds of the George Holliday tape, which shows King charging the officers, was almost always omitted in police reports because it was blurry and didn’t make for very watchable footage. Because of this, the beatings were mistaken to be completely unprompted and thus representative of many other LAPD misconduct incidents that were actually unprompted. Because of that factor, and because the LAPD had been engaged in widespread excessive force and other misconduct throughout the 1980s, this incident became, in the eye of the public, a symbol of routine LAPD misconduct by way of unwarranted and excessive force more than it would have been otherwise. As a result, when the officers involved in the beating were acquitted, South Central Los Angeles imploded into a week of acute civil unrest.

Why did this (PAGST Helmet) work better than this (Brit steel pot)?

This is a question that quite frankly I haven’t got a comprehensive answer to yet. One thing of note is that the republican/nationalist element predominantly within Catholic communities in Northern Ireland regarded British troops as from the same governmental “sphere” as the RUC, seeing both as “invaders” and therefore inherently untrustworthy (Macstiofan interview for starters), whereas basically everyone in LA deemed federal troops sent to quell that disturbance as from a different governmental “sphere” and therefore more worthy of respect (LA riots/Operation Rio).

From at least the 1980’s to 1992, the LAPD had a well-earned reputation of meting out beatings to suspects, guilty and innocent alike, towards the ends of administering “street justice”. This reputation came to the fore in the weeks immediately following the night of March 4th, 1991, when five of its officers were taped beating a detained suspect, Rodney King, after he had been driving recklessly at 55-115 miles per hour while intoxicated and possibly under the influence of PCP [NYTIMES/Us news]. On April 29th, the officers involved in beating him were acquitted of all charges against them, and this kicked off the six-day 1992 LA riots.

From at least the 1980’s to 1992, the LAPD had a well-earned reputation of meting out beatings to suspects, guilty and innocent alike, towards the ends of administering “street justice”. This reputation came to the fore in the weeks immediately following the night of March 4th, 1991, when five of its officers were taped beating a detained suspect, Rodney King, after he had been driving recklessly at 55-115 miles per hour while intoxicated and possibly under the influence of PCP. On April 29th, the officers involved in beating him were acquitted of all charges against them, and this kicked off the six-day 1992 LA riots.

 

Much as excessively-aggressive and violent RUC police tactics and misconduct in general lead to the civil rights protests and subsequent troubles, so did similar policies adopted by the LAPD immediately lead to the 1992 LA riots. The LAPD had a history of questionable use of present as early as the late 1940s/early 1950s (Sleepy Lagoon/Bloody Christmas incidents), however, these really came to the fore from the mid-1980s up until 1992, when the lid flew off of the city. First and foremost, there is the notable similarity of both police organizations in that they both engaged in the beating of random people or suspects and released them, rather than arresting and seeking convictions.

I’m working on finding actual detailed first-hand accounts to insert, but for now this clip is pretty demonstrative. I might keep it for later for the picture it illustrates.

 

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The RUC manifestation of this policy was deemed “internment”, and involved keeping detained persons awake for up to a week and beating them at irregular intervals. The LAPD from 1986-1992 had a prominent ~10% or more (Christopher Commission p.36 figures) of officers who accounted for 30% of complaints regarding excessive use of force, and furthermore, absolutely failed to counsel or sanction these individuals (Ibid pp.32-34). The manifestation of these, however, greatly resembled internment: oftentimes, officers would detain suspects, beat them senseless, and then release them. Sometimes there would be bogus use of force reports (See squad car communications pp.49-54), and other times they would be foregone. Both of these served as the immediate catalyst for violent civil disturbance. Republicans cited internment as an instrumental tool for Provo recruitment and subsequent violent action, and the acquittal of the officers involved in the beating of Rodney king that had for many come to symbolize LAPD excessive force in general was the immediate cause of the ‘92 LA riots.