UNDERSTANDING THE RIOTS / PART 3 : WITNESS TO RAGE : MERCHANTS : ‘I welded the doors on this side of the market.’

I fought in Vietnam, but I thought I’d never have to protect my own home, here. My first reaction was, “It’s out of my area, it’s in L.A.” But when it started coming toward your own home boundaries, then it makes you think of different things.

I hired two security guards for Thursday and I welded all four doors on this side of the meat market. On Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, I welded ‘em closed. I welded ‘em open in the mornings. The security guards were $360 for one night.

I took things into my own hands. I put two of my men on top of the roof with a Magnum and also with a shotgun. And that was used to protect what is ours.

I called the police and told them I’m going to have two armed guards on top of the bakery and I want to go ahead and let you know--make you aware of what I’m doing. So, then I had to pay for my two men up there for Saturday and Sunday, so that was also an added expense.

I made the workers into guards. And then I told them, “Look it, I don’t want this thing to explode more than what it is. What you have to do is: If you see five or six people coming into the store at nighttime, they are trespassing. So what your first reaction is to go ahead and holler at them. Make them aware of that somebody’s looking at them. Your second thing to do is to go ahead and make them aware that you have a weapon. Now if there’s more than 10 or 15 and they don’t acknowledge the fact that the two things you showed them already, then show them your weapon. Now, if that doesn’t work, shoot up in the air one time. Now, if that doesn’t work, they’re trespassing.”

I was getting volunteers to stay on top of the roof and I had four or five workers that didn’t volunteer, because they said they had families to take care of. They lived right here in the projects. And I guess there was something going on over there and they were afraid for their families. So, basically, I picked the volunteers from single men.

And I had like five or six different customers offering to help and I took that in a positive way of thinking. I seen it on TV where they showed--I don’t know if they were employees, but they were around a building. Protecting their building. And that made me think positive of people in Los Angeles. It was a mixture of people and that made it a little nicer.

What I did was is I also went ahead and made sure that I had enough ammunition in case something happened. I thought to myself, “Jeez, what am I doin’? I thought that was over with.” I caught myself looking at my weapons, seeing if they were loaded, if I had enough ammunition, because they weren’t selling ammunition. I just had second thoughts. I just couldn’t believe it.

I thought it all out like that. In Vietnam--it’s funny--’cause I was 18 years old and I was in Vietnam for like a year and a half and I thought all the fighting was left behind me . . . not to come home and do it again.

I thought there should have been a different way of going about it. To express your feelings (rather than rioting). Now you look at people that are without jobs . . . businessmen that invested in the community . . . then some of them are not going to come back. I don’t know. I knock on wood, I guess I’m fortunate I still have my business.