LA Riots in Koreatown.

[DrunkSkunk]

I'm sure they were doing that more as a deterrent than anything else.

[futureExpat]

Absolutely.

If you dont have the rocks to protect your property, you're a Sally.

Exactly!

[Pvt. Cowboy]

I made a post some time ago about my own '92 LA Riot experiences. I thought I made it pretty clear that I didn't see the police for two days until I saw them hiding behind the National Guard and Marines on the third day. What they seemed to be doing in those two days was to be gathering together at the edges of the riot zone trying to prevent the spread by stifling the flow of traffic in and out of the affected areas. When they finally got backup from the Feds, they started moving in.

When civil chaos erupts like what happened back then, you are completely on your own. Though it seems like just the opposite when you're pulled over for a traffic violation, there really aren't that many cops in greater Los Angeles never mind how over-policed civil libertarians claim it to be.

As far as I remember, those Korean store owners never had a lick of legal trouble. The Koreans knew what they were up against after the Latasha Harlins/Soon Ja Du incident which happened about the same time as the Rodney King beating tape release. Racial tension in those days was pretty thick ... in the media, anyway.

[thefifthspeed]

Absolutely.

If you dont have the rocks to protect your property, you're a Sally.

That kind of mindset is going to get you jail time or at least a civil suit. Courts look down on killing people over material, no matter how big a turd the person was.

[Solidmch]

These guys are heros. They restored order. Noticed no one looted their store or burned it down!

[mymonkeyman]

The touchstone of self-defense is reasonableness. What is reasonable changes a lot in a riot, but you generally can't use lethal force to protect property as a categorical rule.

[Higbean]

Sometimes whats right and what is legal are two different things. I would have done a lot more to protect my store than these fellas did.

Had a friend who went to his grandmothers to protect her. Apparently she was right smack in the middle of it. My buddy and his friend had to walk in as they wouldn't let any cars in. They get there and make sure grandma is ok when they see two black males coming off the street to her front door. My buddy steps outside with his 1911, his friend with a 12 guage. Tells em to stop or he'll shoot. Didn't slow them down one bit. Double taps the one in front, DRT, second one turned and ran. Cop car pulls up the next morning, two officers load up the dead body and drive away. No questions asked.

[tpuig]

I was in the NG at the time, in an MP unit. During the riots we were camped at Los Alamitos Air field and dealt with almost every law/police agency you could imagine. It was the HQ and everybody wanted to run the show.
The whole vibe was really weird. In some places, there was nobody on the street. Nada. And other places looked like a normal day. Once we were finally issued rounds, our guys typically set up containment areas and some patrols, but mostly reacted to the current events. A couple interesting stories of shootings, but most seemed true self defense situations. Just the thought of having to shoot a fellow American was unsettling. However, once you felt the energy of the crowds, attitudes quickly changed. Fellow Americans became looters, thieves, rapists and murderers. Not initially having ammo sucked. If only the public knew at the time, I'm sure the wealth would have been redistributed at our expense... I was 100% behind the Korean store owners protecting their blocks.

Just a sidenote... Upon being activated I needed to report to my unit in San Mateo. I lived in San Francisco. I grabbed my shotgun, .45 and some ammo, and luckily had an uneventful trip to the armory. I hadn't realized it at the time, but I had grabbed a bag with some .223. So upon arriving in LA and when I went out to greet the public, my magazine was actually full. I kept my mouth shut and felt better knowing I could actually shoot if necessary. I'm thankful to this day I was never put into a situation in which I had to pull a trigger.
TP

[Darklyte27]

They did what the Police didn't/couldn't.

Id do the same thing if people started running into my store and taking stuff, hell that's taking away from your family. They worked hard to start a business that food and stuff doesn't come free, they had to pay for it.

[Diabolus]

They are shooting at people to protect shoes. What if they miss and hit someone who is innocent?

I don't know... its one thing to defend your property because someone is trying to burn it down, but to shoot at people looting shoes is bizarre.

[Steyr_223]

I remember watching the riots live on CNN and local news..They showed LA PD retreating from mobs in South Central. I never saw the footage again..It show about 10 squad cars in an inter section and the cops pulling out as they lost control..

Anyone have this footage on Youtube or elsewhere?

[liberty08]

They are shooting at people to protect shoes. What if they miss and hit someone who is innocent?

I don't know... its one thing to defend your property because someone is trying to burn it down, but to shoot at people looting shoes is bizarre.

Looked like in that situation there weren't any innocent bystanders. Looked like a free for all and unless someone was mentally disabled, I think they knew they should have stayed home. I applaud the store owners and wonder if it would be better in that situation to have one gun loaded with non-lethal ammo of some type and just blast everyone holding any looted property. I'd sure feel better knowing someone had to feel a little pain to loot my store and get away with it.

[IceMan711]

If those store owners were ever on trial, and I was in the jury, they would be in damn good shape.

[AJAX22]

When someone makes the decision to steal, they themselves determine the value of their own life.

If they only think its worth a pair of shoes, well thats not anyones problem but the thiefs.

If I was on the jury I'd aquit then buy them a box of ammo and a nice bottle of wine.

[Matt C]

They were probably in the right although that video makes them look bad. I would certainly not stand by during a riot while my business was destroyed.

197. Homicide is also justifiable when committed by any person in
any of the following cases:
1. When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a
felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person; or,
2. When committed in defense of habitation, property, or person,
against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or
surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends
and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter
the habitation of another for the purpose of offering violence to any
person therein; or,
3. When committed in the lawful defense of such person, or of a
wife or husband, parent, child, master, mistress, or servant of such
person, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design to
commit a felony or to do some great bodily injury, and imminent
danger of such design being accomplished; but such person, or the
person in whose behalf the defense was made, if he was the assailant
or engaged in mutual combat, must really and in good faith have
endeavored to decline any further struggle before the homicide was
committed; or,
4. When necessarily committed in attempting, by lawful ways and
means, to apprehend any person for any felony committed, or in
lawfully suppressing any riot, or in lawfully keeping and preserving
the peace.