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Update: With your donations, since yesterday, we've hit the 3/4 mark in our goal to keep Newstalgia up and running and keep the archives from being lost. It's been an amazing outpouring of love and support so far. We're so close -- just a quarter more to go and we will have succeeded! I continue to be humbled and and in awe of all your support and all your kindness. When I say every penny counts, no matter what, it really does. So many of you have come in with $1.00 donations, and they all add up and they all make a difference - they always make a difference. We're almost there - we need that extra push to get us over the top. I know we can do it, and with your help, we can. Any amount you feel comfortable with - it all helps. We're doing it. It's happening. You're making it happen. You are beyond amazing!

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

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Update: Still hovering at the 3/4 mark with just a little ways left to go. My deepest appreciation and sinceret thanks to those of you who have donated in the last few hours. Your contributions have been lifesaving. We're so close to hitting our goal and I am so blown away by your support of this site and what we're trying to do. We're getting there and,with your help, we'll succeed. Any amount you're comfortable with, it is all needed and it all chips away at the problem. You're making a huge difference. Just a little bit more to go - we can do it - we are doing it! You are all amazing.

April 29th may have marked the 20th anniversary of the start of the now-famous Rodney King Trial verdict insurrection, but April 30th was when the shit truly hit the fan and the streets were filled with anger and violence. Fires sprang up everywhere, most raging out of control because fire fighters were in short supply and the ones who did respond were attacked. The Police were mostly powerless to stop the rage and stores and businesses throughout the city were broken into, ransacked and burned. As of the start of the morning of the 30th, 9 had already been reported dead, with scores injured and a city in chaos and spreading.

Here is coverage, as presented by Public radio station KCRW, who also broke in and out to carry news reports from the local TV outlets as well as CNN. This recording covers the period of time from 8:55 am until roughly 10:00 am on the morning of the 30th. There are two press conferences, one from Mayor Braddley assessing the situation and Chief Darryl Gates. Also covered are statements from President Bush and a lot of eyewitness accounts.

And this day was only starting.