Tommy Jacquette, executive of the Watts Summer Festival, at 116th Street and Avalon, where Lee W. Minikus arrested Marquette Frye on Aug. 11, 1965.
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Watts Riots, 40 Years Later

Tommy Jacquette, executive of the Watts Summer Festival, at 116th Street and Avalon, where Lee W. Minikus arrested Marquette Frye on Aug. 11, 1965.

Tommy Jacquette, executive of the Watts Summer Festival, at 116th Street and Avalon, where Lee W. Minikus arrested Marquette Frye on Aug. 11, 1965. (Gary Friedman / LAT)

Troops secure a stretch of 103rd Street at Compton Avenue, nicknamed “Charcoal Alley” because of all the burned buildings. After the violence, 34 people, 25 of them black, were dead and more than 1,000 were injured.

Troops secure a stretch of 103rd Street at Compton Avenue, nicknamed “Charcoal Alley” because of all the burned buildings. After the violence, 34 people, 25 of them black, were dead and more than 1,000 were injured. (John Malmin / LAT)

Lee W. Minikus says of Frye: “My friend Marquette passed away. We kept in touch off and on.”

Lee W. Minikus says of Frye: “My friend Marquette passed away. We kept in touch off and on.” (Kevin P. Casey / For The Times)

Victoria Brown Davis waits for a bus at 103rd Street and Compton Avenue. “I wouldn’t want to live through anything like that again,” she says.

Victoria Brown Davis waits for a bus at 103rd Street and Compton Avenue. “I wouldn’t want to live through anything like that again,” she says. (Gary Friedman / LAT)

Bob Hipolito was featured in John Malmin’s famed photo of the riot. “We were only trained for combat, not civil disobedience,” he says.

Bob Hipolito was featured in John Malmin’s famed photo of the riot. “We were only trained for combat, not civil disobedience,” he says. (Gary Friedman / LAT)

Betty Pleasant covered the riots for the Los Angeles Sentinel. “On the corner of 92nd and Wilmington, was a very small, tiny grocery store owned by an elderly black couple. Their store was untouched, because word went around not to touch this one because it was black-owned,” she says.

Betty Pleasant covered the riots for the Los Angeles Sentinel. “On the corner of 92nd and Wilmington, was a very small, tiny grocery store owned by an elderly black couple. Their store was untouched, because word went around not to touch this one because it was black-owned,” she says. (Gary Friedman / LAT)

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