WATTS RIOTS
The Watts Riots were the largest rebellion of the entire Civil Rights Movement. They Occurred in Los Angeles. It lasted for six days, and in those six day the streets were fills with an enormous amount people,property damage, and rage. On August 11,1965, a police officer pulled over a black man namedMarquette Frye because of suspicion that he may be intoxicated, and arrested the man. This created a crowd of people who began shouting and throwing things at the police officer. As the next few days went on, huge mobs of angry activists, and black citizens flooded the streets, and caused major destruction of the town, and threatening the police officers and those in accordance with the previous events. Over these few days, 14,000 national guard troops were sent in to try to control the riots. During the riots, 34 people were killed, thousands severely injured, and almost 4,000 arrests. Finally on the 17th, the riots were able to be controlled, and ended. The Riots exemplified the commitment and courage of the activists during this time period. It took one small event like the arrest of Frye for the citizens to protest their many grievances and complaints about the unfair treatment they were receiving. The Watts riots are significant to the movement because they show how passionate the people were towards what they wanted, and shows the extent they would go to to receive the rights they deserved.