The Reaction

“I was stunned. I was shocked. I was outraged. I was speechless when I heard that verdict. Today this jury told the world that what we all saw with our own eyes was not a crime. Today that jury asked us to accept the senseless and brutal beating of a helpless man.”

--Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley

“Whatever the emotions are, whether angry or happy, they ought to be channeled correctly in a positive way, not into a destructive or violent fashion.”

--Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates

“There are obviously two camps alive and well--one that believes the officers are guilty and one believes they are innocent. However, we have to accept and rely on our judicial process. It’s a fair process. Regardless of how we feel about it, we have to move on and make sure an incident like this doesn’t happen again.”

--Los Angeles Police Chief-designate, Willie L. Williams

“He’s delighted he’s not going to jail. And he’s delighted he’s not a convicted felon. And he’s delighted this is finally behind him because this has been a tremendously traumatic experience for him. He told the truth from his perspective, and I hope they (the other three defendants) understand that.”

--John D. Barnett, lawyer for Theodore J. Briseno

“I tried to put the jury in the shoes of the police officers, and I think I was able to do that. We got the jurors to look at the case not from the eye of the camera or the eye of a video cameraman, but from the eyes of the officers who were out there that night.”

--Michael Stone, attorney for defendant Laurence M. Powell

“I’ve won a thousand dollars in debts because I predicted this. Who in the world would expect a bunch of Klu Klux Klanners in Simi Valley to find police guilty who had beaten up an African-American. Answer? No one.”

--Stephen Yagman, attorney who specializes in civil rights violation suits against police

“I think it’s a throwback directly to the Jim Crow era when black folks would be brutalized in many cases by sheriffs and law enforcement officials throughout the South and could do nothing about it. . . . I think the jury racially identified with those four police officers.”

--Joe Hicks, executive director of local chapter of Southern Christian Leadership Conference

“I think what we’re looking at here is one of the biggest setbacks for the cause of justice since the Scottsboro boys were judicially lynched. . . . I think the only way that I can answer it is to say we’ve gotten the shaft again.”

--Joe Duff, president of the Los Angeles Branch of the NAACP

“We’ve always known it’s difficult to get convictions against police officers. Juries believe police officers. It was probably truer in Simi Valley. We’re very disappointed.”

--Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California