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Twenty years ago this day, and by the look at the time of this post, almost exactly twenty years ago to this hour, the verdict was read in the infamous police beating of motorist Rodney King and the result was the bloodiest and most destructive insurrection of the 1990's.

After a trial that went on for weeks and jury deliberation that went on for days, the four LAPD officers were acquitted in the use of deadly force against an unarmed motorist. The reaction was swift, vocal and ultimately violent - and it lasted for days.

Here is the first hour, just moments after the verdicts were read via KNX-AM in Los Angeles. From the official sector comes a press conference reaction from Mayor Tom Braddley and a few minutes later, reaction from Police Chief Darryl Gates, who pretty much sums up the problem by his attitude. Between are reactions from Civic leaders, Civil rights leaders and the average innocent bystander. The broadcast ends just as violence erupts in South Central with first reports of looting and gunshots.

The rest, as they say, is history