Convictions Led to the Zoot Suit Riots

After a three-month trial, an all-white jury convicted a dozen young Mexican American men of killing Jose Diaz, 22, at an Eastside swimming hole that became known as Sleepy Lagoon. In the months that followed, tension between uniformed servicemen and young Mexican American men wearing baggy outfits called zoot suits gave rise to the notorious Zoot Suit Riots. The convictions were overturned on appeal in October 1944.