KING CASE AFTERMATH: A CITY IN CRISIS : Voices

“Yeah, it’s gotten out of hand, but society has gotten out of hand. All this is a manifestation of all that pain and suffering. This is as permissible as what happened to Rodney King on the streets.”

David Boyce, San Francisco

“I will stand up with these people (black residents) and I will challenge our President and those who are running for the presidency to change their priorities.”

Jesse Jackson

“(Bush) is beginning to recognize the fact that unless we deal with this issue, America is in for a long, hot summer ahead.”

Benjamin Hooks, executive director, NAACP

“The nation is in an outrage.”

Arthur Fletcher, chairman of the Civil Rights Commission

“People are just tired. There are no jobs, no work. They have put up (with their circumstances) the right way. They played the game. It didn’t work.”

A looter

“This is mob psychology. They just run the streets like idiots and do stupid things. They don’t care. These people are just trying to get money. This is just an excuse.”

Walter Blue, a black businessman in South Los Angeles

“If the verdict had been right, none of this would have happened. It’s not stealing. The jury did us wrong.”

A looter

“People say the black people did it--but I don’t think so. This is a Latino neighborhood. It was our own people too. We’re gonna kill each other--that’s all there is to it.”

Jose Mojica, store manager at Western Avenue and Santa Monica Boulevard

“If I had a rifle, I’d go out and help the cops.”

Lloyd Burns

“I don’t think anyone knows what we ought to be doing.”

Councilwoman Joy Picus

“I am sick at heart, very sick at heart. I have seen people looting for which I am ashamed, but I have seen tremendous courage. There was a black man who saved a motorist. That is something that best reflects the spirit of this community.”

Gov. Pete Wilson

“I figure Dr. King died for nothing.”

Tee Barnett, a South Los Angeles data control clerk

“I have food for my babies.”

A looter

“This is a statement these people are making. What all this means is that we are saying that if our higher-ups can get away with abuse and lawlessness, then we are also going to be lawless. We are going to do everything we can get away with.”

Bystander Samuel Taylor, 35, a junior high school teacher

“I was just sitting there, stopped at the stoplight, and this guy just jumped out to grab my camera. He shot me. . . . I thought it would hurt more to get shot.”

Bruce Gleason, shooting victim