2 trials have L.A. fearing the worst

Jonathan T. Lovitt ;Richard Price

02/01/1993

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

LOS ANGELES - This city is bracing for the next round in the Rodney King

case - and this time there are two trials to worry about instead of one.

Jury selection opens Wednesday in the federal case against four white police

officers charged with violating King's civil rights in the now-famous videotaped

beating.

In March, there's the trial of three black men charged with beating trucker

Reginald Denny during riots sparked by the acquittal of police last spring.

Some worry that the white officers will be acquitted and the black men

convicted.

``Violence is not the answer, but if that happens it's going to be sad,'' says

Georgiana Williams, mother of Damien ``Football'' Williams, a defendant in the

Denny case. ``They're just going to shoot every white person they see.''

Businesses are hiring security. Apartment-dwellers are moving into high- rise

buildings. Thousands have bought guns.

Schools are teaching how to protest non-violently. Churches are preaching peace.

Police, criticized for failing to stop riots that killed 53 and caused more than $1

billion in damage, say they're ready.

``There will be no doubt in anyone's mind what the role of the police is to be in a

civil disturbance,'' says Lt. John Dunkin of the Los Angeles Police Department.

The Police Commission voted last week to ask for $1 million in riot equipment,

including rubber bullets and tear-gas bombs.

The police force is developing an emergency plan, and all officers are taking 16

hours of riot training. County sheriff's deputies are gearing up, too.

Gov. Pete Wilson's spokesman, Franz Wisner, says, ``We have to plan for the

worst-case scenario.'' The state's chief of law enforcement met here Friday with

city leaders about bringing in the National Guard.

Mayor Tom Bradley's office has launched a Neighbor to Neighbor program,

which has sent out 23 organizers to assemble teams for canvassing

neighborhoods and giving people ``a feeling of empowerment,'' says

spokesperson Val Bunting.

Also under consideration: Imposing a curfew and delaying the verdict so police

can reach possible trouble spots.

Asian-Americans, hit hard by the riots because they are resented for owning

many of the businesses in predominantly black neighborhoods, already are taking

steps.

The leasing office of Park LaBrea in Fairfax District - a gated community with

24-hour guards - is packed with Koreans seeking apartments.

Patty Nadee, who lost her Thai restaurant to arson in the riot, moved to a

location 10 blocks away and plans to add security when the verdict nears. But

she still worries.

She says a crowd from south central came to her door one night, and ``they told

me that if I didn't give them food right away, they'd be back after the trial.''

Pausing, she adds, ``I cannot go through this again.''

CUTLINE:KING: Now a civil rights case CUTLINE:FEARS A REPEAT: Patty

Nadee lost her Thai restaurant to arson after last year's riots. `I cannot go through

this again,' she says.

PHOTO,b/w,Reuters; PHOTO,b/w,Bob Riha Jr.,Gamma-Liaison