officers - The Black Vault

.~0;3,50 !Rev. 5·8·81)
•
fA!igfy C£l!1et-S FlOOd
tTtmes Switchboard
t Shortly after verdicts were read in the Rodney G. King beating
trial, callers from across the country flooded the Los Angeles .
~Times switchboard-most with angry comm~nts on the outcome;
:The calls came from as far away as Michigan, Idaho and Texas, ·and
:from local residents in Compton, the San Fernando Valley and
Orange County. :. . ..• ,,., · . :. ·.
. . Most asked that their names not be·used. Here is a sampling:
. • A caller from Hayden Lake, Ida., said: "!"am a white, .
middle-class Mormon woman and I am totalJ.Y. outraged. at the
verdict on the Rodney King beating." ·
,- · IIi Irene Shandell, a federal worker from Compton, said that her
;~3-1ear-old daughter cried when she ~eard the verdict and that her
; two other teen-agers were angry. "I think it was an outrage. What
:'they are doing is inciting a riot. In your wildest dreams, you never
!·would have thought they would come back with this verdict. Now
:] fear for my children and for my community.~· · · . ·
· • A caller who agreed with the verdict congratulated the officers.
"I believe they were absolutely right. I saw the tape and I felt they
were wrong. But I watched the trial from Day 1 and certainly
learned a lot of things that were not presented in the tape." ·
• Vivian Pennington of Albuquerque, N.M., said she and her
husband were stunned. "We are totally outraged that those officers
could be found not guilty in the face of all of that evidence. What
does it take in Los Angeles to get a guilty verdict? I'm just
outraged and angry." . .
• A realty agent from San Jose. said: "I think it's shocking. I'm
concerned for my fellow Californians who live in the Los Angeles
;area who are subject to this kind of behavior by the police."
' • A teacher from Flint, Mich., warned ttiat the verdict could lead
to racial friction. "It is obvious that thes_e policemen Qrutally beat
~~s !Jlan and there is no reason to brutally beat a citizen
-anywhere.... I think we have set ourselves up for civil war all.
over again."
i • A caller who lauded the verdict blamed the prosecution of the .
·officers on Mayor Tom Bradley. "He was using these policemen for
his own political gain to take over the Police Department , c
·himself. . . . I am completely outraged."
·. il A Petaluma woman said that "as a white person, I am ·· .
extremely upset. I am outraged, disgusted, saddened about the fact
that this is happening, in America. It's unspeakab~e." .
• A woman caller said the verdict vindicated the officers: "I think
these policeman already served a lot of punishment and time, so I
·prayed and prayed and lit candles at Mass all the w~y to the end,
·and I'm grateful it ended that way."
i • A caller from Maine said: "I don't know how anybody ~an look
•at this and not have something to say about this. The whole
:country is up il). arms about this [verdict]."
l • Harley Spoon of Waco, Tex. said he was embarrassed and
shocked: "I think it's going to make [police] think they have a
: ii~ense to bump people upside the head. with billy clubs. I've lived
•. through that kind of stuff in my part of the country. We're ahead .
~~f th~t now.l'm kind of disappointed in Los Angel~sjus~ce.'~ ·.. ..
•(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
IDS ANGElES TIMES
IDS ANGElES, CA
Date: THURS., 4/30/92
Edition: FRONT SECTION, PAGE 23
TiUe:
ANGRY CAlLERS FLOOD
TIMES SWITCHBOARD
Chamcter: 44Aor
Classification: 80-33B
Submitting Office:
LOS ANGELES
Indexing:
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