image and text by
Joel Sternfeld
from the series:
On This Site/ Landscape In Memoriam.
The Northwest Corner of Florence and Normandie Avenues,
Los Angeles, California,
October 1993On April 29, 1992, four white police officers on trial for the beating of motorist Rodney King were acquitted. A videotape of King’s beating had been extensively televised. The not guilty verdicts became a catalyst for widespread civil unrest.
Riots began with several mob assaults at this intersection. Reginald Denny, a white truck driver, was pulled from his truck and severely beaten as a camera crew broadcast the event live from a news helicopter.The Los Angeles Riots caused more than fifty deaths and an estimated one billion dollars worth of damage.
