Hyderabad: Dozens of protesters have been arrested by the authorities in Los Angeles city in California state of the US during protests against the Immigration and Customs Emigration (ICE) raids.
The protests, which began on Friday, June 6, continued on the fifth day on Tuesday and have led to a standoff between California Governor Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump with the former warning of legal action against the US President.
As the protests continue, ETV Bharat revisits the history of protests and riots in the USA
1965: Los Angeles : An identity check by police on two black men in a car sparks the Watts riots, August 11-17, 1965, in Los Angeles, which leave 34 dead and tens of millions of dollars' worth of damage.The trouble starts when Marquette Frye and his half brother are stopped by police and taken in for questioning. Several thousand blacks surround the police station and, after a week of arson and looting, the Watts neighborhood is all but destroyed.
1967: Newark : Two white police officers arrest and beat up a black taxi driver for a minor traffic violation, setting off rioting July 12-17 in Newark, New Jersey. For five days, in stifling summer heat, rioters wreck the district, leaving 26 dead and 1,500 injured.
1967: Detroit : Race riots in Detroit, Michigan, July 23-27, 1967, kill 43 and leave more than 2,000 injured. Trouble spreads to Illinois, North Carolina, Tennessee and Maryland.
1968: King assassination: After the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee, violence erupts in 125 cities April 4-11, 1968, leaving at least 46 dead and 2,600 injured. In Washington, then-President Lyndon B. Johnson sends in the 82nd Airborne Division to quell riots.
1968 East Los Angeles walkouts (Blowouts): The walkouts in March 1968 included ,Over 15,000 high school students walk out of seven different schools in East Los Angeles. While staff hid, students stood on desks, banged on lockers, and flooded the streets with protest signs that read “we want education, not eradication,” “Better Education,” and “Unite for Better Schools!” They took to nearby parks to share impassioned speeches on education equality. Police appeared on the scene; the college students fulfilled their promise of acting as bodyguards. Students refused to disband. The students’ demands centered around issues with segregated schools, a Eurocentric curriculum, and the diversification of school staff. police arrested 13 of the organizers on felony conspiracy charges.
1980: Miami : The acquittal of four white police officers in Tampa, Florida, on charges of beating a black motorcyclist to death in December 1979 after he rode through a red light sets off a wave of violence in Miami's Liberty City, May 17-20, 1980, leaving 18 dead and more than 300 injured.
1992 Rodney King protests and Riots : Outrage over the acquittal of four LAPD officers caught on video beating unarmed Black motorist Rodney King in 1991.On April 29, 1992, hours after the verdict, violence erupted in South Central Los Angeles. Protests quickly escalated into looting, arson, and clashes with police and National Guard.63 people died; over 2,000 were injured, Damage estimates topped $1 billion.
2001: Cincinnati : On April 9, 2001, rioting erupts in Cincinnati, Ohio, after the killing of a 19-year-old black man, Timothy Thomas, by a white police officer. Mayor Charlie Luken lifts a four-night curfew on the city on April 16, after the city's worst rioting in more than 30 years, during which 70 people are injured.
2014: Ferguson : Ten days of protests and riots and heavy-handed police tactics in Ferguson, Missouri, take place August 9-19, 2014, after a white officer kills an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown. In late November, the announcement that charges are being dropped against the police officer leads to a new explosion of anger.
2015: Baltimore : On April 19, 2015, Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, dies a week after suffering serious spinal injuries in a police van after being arrested by Baltimore officers. The arrest is captured on video and broadcast, leading to rioting and looting in Baltimore, a city of 620,000 inhabitants, of which nearly two-thirds are black. A state of emergency is declared and the authorities call in troops.
2016: Charlotte : In September 2016, in Charlotte, North Carolina, sometimes violent protests break out over the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, 43.Police say the shooting happened when they saw him hold up a gun as they approached his vehicle after seeing him rolling a marijuana cigarette. His family says he was unarmed.The authorities impose a curfew and call in troops.
2020 George Floyd protests : On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a Black man, was arrested by Minneapolis police after a store clerk alleged he used a counterfeit $20 bill. During the arrest, officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, despite Floyd’s repeated pleas that he couldn’t breathe.Floyd's death sparked massive demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism across all 50 US states and in many countries. The protests also saw some instances of rioting, looting, and clashes with police. Cities imposed curfews, and the National Guard was deployed in several states. The movement reignited calls for police reform, racial justice, and accountability.
Past Instances Where US Presidents Ordered National Guard Deployment
What Is The National Guard's Purpose?
Founded in 1636, the National Guard predates the Army as the oldest organized militia in North America, according to its website. According to The Library of Congress, The Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 established a military reserve force —including the National Guard and Air National Guard, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard reserves — at the federal and state levels, The National Guard is part of a "ready" reserve category that can be activated by the president in a national emergency with or without the authority of state governors.
The National Guard has been activated at least 16 times at the federal level, according Dr. Richard Clark, historian for the National Guard Bureau.
- Whiskey Rebellion in 1792
- Civil War from 1861-65
- Against the Ku Klux Klan from1866-1977
- Great Railroad Strike in 1877
- Desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas from 1957-58
- Desegregation of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi in1962
- Desegregation of the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1963
- Integration of Alabama Public Schools in 1963
- March from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965
- Detroit Riots in 1967
- 1968 King assassination riots in Chicago, Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
- New York City Postal Strike in 1970
- 1980 Cuban Refugee Crisis
- Hurricane Hugo in 1989
- 1992 LA Riots
- George Floyd protests in multiple locations nationwide in 2020
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