Opps, a missed chance for more for Gun control!
Posted: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:57 am
Remember the April 29, 1992 aftermath of the Rodney King verdict
Reginald Oliver Denny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reginald Oliver Denny (born April 21, 1953 in San Pedro, California) is a white construction truck driver who was dragged from his truck and nearly beaten to death by black rioters during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The attack was captured by a news helicopter, which broadcasted the attack to the entire world as it happened.
On April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, eighteen-wheel truck with twenty-seven tons of sand and drove to a plant in Inglewood where the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. At 6:46 PM, after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting at him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter piloted by reporter Bob Tur captured the events that followed.
A man named Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull him out. Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny, who had done nothing to provoke the violence, was kicked in the stomach. A man who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer. A man named Damian Monroe Williams then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious. Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed a gang sign at news helicopters, which were televising the events live, above and pointed at Denny. A man named Anthony Brown then spit on Denny and left with Williams.
After the beating had ended, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams, a drug addict who frequented the area, approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker, a process server for a law firm, stopped near the body and attempted to shoot the gas tank of Denny's truck but missed.
I guess it's a good thing he missed, or they would have tried to say that 'gun ownership' was the root of the problem?
Reginald Oliver Denny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Reginald Oliver Denny (born April 21, 1953 in San Pedro, California) is a white construction truck driver who was dragged from his truck and nearly beaten to death by black rioters during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The attack was captured by a news helicopter, which broadcasted the attack to the entire world as it happened.
On April 29, 1992, at 5:39 PM, Denny loaded his red, eighteen-wheel truck with twenty-seven tons of sand and drove to a plant in Inglewood where the sand was due. He left the Santa Monica Freeway and took a familiar shortcut across Florence Avenue to get to his destination. At 6:46 PM, after entering the intersection at Normandie, rioters threw rocks at his windows and he heard people shouting at him to stop. Overhead, a news helicopter piloted by reporter Bob Tur captured the events that followed.
A man named Antoine Miller opened the truck door, giving others the chance to pull him out. Another man, Henry Keith Watson, then held Denny's head down with his foot. Denny, who had done nothing to provoke the violence, was kicked in the stomach. A man who had led a liquor store break-in earlier that day hurled a five-pound piece of medical equipment at Denny's head and hit him three times with a claw hammer. A man named Damian Monroe Williams then threw a slab of concrete at Denny's head and knocked him unconscious. Williams then did a victory dance over Denny. He then flashed a gang sign at news helicopters, which were televising the events live, above and pointed at Denny. A man named Anthony Brown then spit on Denny and left with Williams.
After the beating had ended, various men threw beer bottles at the unconscious Denny. Gary Williams, a drug addict who frequented the area, approached Denny and rifled through his pockets. Lance Parker, a process server for a law firm, stopped near the body and attempted to shoot the gas tank of Denny's truck but missed.
I guess it's a good thing he missed, or they would have tried to say that 'gun ownership' was the root of the problem?
I agree that standing by and watching it happen was reprehensible, but a helicopter's rotor is not a weapon by any means (assuming they could even descend low enough to land without striking power lines, buildings, vehicles, etc).