What They Think About L.A.

Like earthquakes, floods and other disasters, the rioting that followed the acquittal verdicts in the beating of Rodney G. King is reshaping attitudes about Los Angeles. Here is a sample of opinions about the city from around the nation:

Denver

Sharyl Harris, 36, secretary:

“I feel sorry for the people of L.A. that they have to burn their own city down, but how else are they going to get any justice? They went through the court system. But they got no justice. None.”

Houston

Rhonda Donn, 32, secretary:

“Street gangs and violence. That’s what L.A. is all about. There’s no justice there. Where’s the logic? You’ve got someone on tape beating another person, and he gets off innocent. I wouldn’t feel safe in L.A. Where would you go for protection?”

Miami

Bob Feldman, 62, insurance agent:

“I see California as a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live there. It’s a very liberal state with progressive ideas, but with large bastions of conservatism. That swing to the right, and ignoring problems of the inner city, may have led to conditions that allowed the King case.”

Newark, N.J.,

Mayor Sharpe James:

“Martin Luther King said it best: Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. . . . Last night it was live on camera: the city (of Los Angeles) burning. I cannot erase it from my cerebral hemisphere. People will form a negative image of the city that is hard to shake.”

San Diego

Police Chief Bob Burgreen:

“We have quite a different style of policing (than the Los Angeles Police Department). . . . We are not an invading army.”

Tryon, N.C.

Bill Kerby, 54, a screenwriter who lives part time in Los Angeles:

“(Humorist) Jean Shepherd once said if you pick up the United States by its handle--New York--then all the crazies roll downhill to Los Angeles. People already think it’s crazy out there. But the verdict will deeply affect the way people of color think about all of California. I think they’ll think about it for a while like Johannesburg--a place where you can’t get a break.”

Washington, D.C.

R.T. Newberry, 49, subway station manager:

“I think the street crime alone would scare me off living in L.A. . . . I think the King verdict (happened) because the middle-class white people in L.A. are so afraid, they’re not thinking clearly and that’s why they let those cops get off.”