Watts: 1965. Giving new meaning to the phrase “long, hot summer”.
Click on the link here for audio player: Watts Riot Coverage – Aug. 13, 1965
August 13, 1965 marked the third straight day of civil unrest, gunfire, and burning buildings in the Los Angeles suburb of Watts. In what began as a routine traffic stop quickly escalated into a tense standoff, was downplayed on local radio and TV as “nothing important going on”, and then exploded into one of the most violent and deadly confrontations to take place in an American city in a long time. By the time it was over, some 20,0000 National Guard troops were patrolling the streets, some 30 people lay dead and destruction of homes and businesses was estimated in the millions.
Here is a portion of that third day (from roughly 10:00 -11:15 pm) as reported by KTLA in Los Angeles on August 13, 1965. In later years, such violent confrontations would warrant our uninterrupted attention. But in 1965 there was still time out for commercial breaks.
