(TIME-warp) When all 'HELL' broke Loose!

It was 27 Yrs ago this Week, the 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one Hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area rioted over the six days following the verdict.

Widespread looting, assault, arson and murder occurred, and property damages topped roughly $1 billion. In all, 54 people died during the riots and thousands more were injured.

^{One included a beating of 2 Gay Men shown here.}    

^{Karen Ocamb's LGBT-POV  covered this from the Gay perspective with Openly Gay LAPD Sgt Lisa Phillips:  Morris Knight was inside the First AME Church immediately after the verdict and I traveled down to the church in South Central with LA Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center executive director Torie Osborn and communications director David Smith. But we were late and parked on a side street. As Torie and David got signs from the back, I looked down the street and saw a crowd coming our way. I pulled out my little Frontiers press pass, thinking it would “protect” us so we could get to the church. A few neighbors saw what we were about to do and urgently told us to get the hell out of there. We did and as we were turning to head home, a caravan of cars with angry young men passed by. I later recognized one of those men as I watched the live televised beating of white truck driver Reginald Denny. For several days, I covered how the riots impacted people with HIV/AIDS as the Minority AIDS Project and AIDS Project Los Angeles were forced to shutter for a few days; how employees and neighbors saved Jewel’s Catch One from being burned down; how gays helped fight fires and joined in the city-wide clean up. But one of the most extraordinary stories was how LAPD Officer Lisa Phillips saved her partner and a civilian – earning her the LAPD’s Medal of Valor.}

^{In 2011, another storm blew in at the wedding of William and Kate. Most of the media had their eye on Kate AND his sister, Pippa. In the Gay press it was all about their brother James Middleton! Last year, OUTview reported on the huge surge on Google (at the wedding) for proof that James was Gay. Many photos surfaced of young James in drag and semi nude. OUTview's numbers increased by 25% and held steady for most of the year.The story is the second highest read post in our history. We are still in awe over the amount of interest.}