LOS ANGELES : Media Creating Fears of Riots, Ministers Say
A group of Los Angeles ministers said Thursday that the media are creating an atmosphere that could lead to riots by coverage that indicates that there might be trouble when verdicts are reached in two volatile trials.
Members of congregations headed by the Ministers Coalition for Peace have told their pastors that they fear another riot, said the Rev. Roderick L. Ewell, associate minister at St. Mark Missionary Baptist Church. Parishioners are afraid that there may be an outbreak of trouble after verdicts are reached in the trial of four Los Angeles police officers accused of violating Rodney G. King’s civil rights and the trial of three men charged in the assault of trucker Reginald O. Denny.
“This fear comes from the media,” Ewell said.
Ewell, one of the ministers who formed the coalition three weeks after last year’s riots, said another concern is that many promises made to rebuild have not been kept.
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