The riot began when a young Black man, Marquette Frye, was arrested by a white highway patrol officer in the Los Angeles area. After Frye failed a sobriety test, he resisted arrest, which drew a large crowd to the scene. Frye was hit in the head by one of the officers, causing him to bleed. Accusations of police abuse circulated, followed by several days of unrest and the deployment of the California National Guard.
