LA Riots

On 4-29-1992, I was living in Guatemala. I had no TV, and no phone, never mind internet and little news from the outside world. Once a month I travelled into the capitol on the Chinita- our town bus, to get my living stipend and pick up mail in the Zona 10 Peace Corps office. The bus left my village at just after 2am, and we got to Guate’s Zona 4 at about 6:30am.

I would go to the office, swap the books I read for new ones in the library, picked up my mail, which always included Newsweek, provided free to volunteers, see the nurses for whatever medical supplies I needed and head to the bank when it opened. Banks always had guards with automatic weapons, which was a change from our US system… odd how after a while it became common place. I would cash my check and do a little bit of shopping (sometimes an American treat, sometimes fresh fruit) and then I would head for the Zona 4 terminal to catch the Chinita in time for its 1pm departure for Saltán.

I was… in Peace Corps terms… a bit of a site rat. I didn’t spend weekends in the capitol, I didn’t attend tons of Volunteer parties, I rarely travelled. Instead, I worked and spent time with my counterparts, and the people in my village.

So I had NO IDEA the LA riots happened, until they were over. And then, what I had was a Newsweek magazine with a cover photo of engulfing flames. And I read about the riots in South Central LA, and I read about Rodney King and the officers acquitted… 53 dead, many injured.

And I was shocked.

But there were heroes in those dark days.

Most know the name Reginold Denny as a white man who was dragged from his truck and beaten by a mob. But would you know the name Bobby Green Jr.? Lei Yuille ? Titus Murphy? His girlfriend Terri Barnett ? These are the four individuals who risked themselves to save a stranger. Lei Yuille raced to the scene with her brother and joined Denny in the cab of his truck, comforting the severely injured man. Terri and Titus soon joined her. Bobby, a truck driver, took over the wheel of the truck, and with Mr. Murphy on the sideboard and Terri ahead of them in her car leading the way, these strangers worked together to get Denny to the hospital. These four saw the news report of the beating like everyone else, but these special people rushed to the scene-unarmed- to help a stranger. They rescued Mr. Denny and drove him to the hospital in time to save his life.

A Guatemalan man, Fidel Lopez was also beaten to unconsciousness stripped and mutilated then covered in gasoline. But he was saved from death when Rev. Bennie Newton put himself in between the crowd and Lopez, saying that he would only be killed if the crowd was willing to kill the reverend as well. He took Lopez to the hospital when no ambulance would come. Rev Newton gave $3000 dollars as a donation to help Mr. Lopez and his family. That is Christian love in action. A man who lived the words he preached.

A Japanese American, Takao Hirata, was robbed, assaulted and unconscious when he was rescued by Greg Alan-Williams (He plays the Coach in Necessary Roughness, which I love) and handed over to a man driving a van, who got Hirata to the hospital… saving his life.

Random acts of amazing courage.

I prefer to remember these brave individuals on the twenty year anniversary.