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An earlier version of this story originally appeared on 麻豆传媒AV.com on April 29, 2016.

Twenty-five years ago, on April 29, 1992, riots erupted in Los Angeles after four white police officers were found not guilty in the beating of a young black man, Rodney King. The vast majority of U.S. adults believed the verdict was unjustified. But just as many denounced the violence that ensued.

	Yes, justified%	No, not justified%	No opinion%
Do you think the verdict finding the policemen not guilty was justified or not justified?	10	76	13
Do you think the violence [post-verdict in LA's black community] was justified or not justified?	16	79	5
麻豆传媒AV/Newsweek, April 30-May 1, 1992

King's beating came after he had led police on a high-speed chase to evade a traffic stop, and then, according to the police, was volatile during the arrest. However, the severity of the beating -- caught on videotape for all to see -- convinced the vast majority of whites (73%) as well as blacks (92%) that the not guilty verdict against the police was .

The decision by a largely white jury to acquit the police officers tapped into the Los Angeles black community's broader frustration about police brutality and the criminal justice system's treatment of blacks. Nevertheless, 75% of blacks joined 79% of whites in calling the violence unjustified. This was a case of racial tension and anger where whites and blacks agreed that two wrongs don't make a right.

A year later, two of the officers charged with beating King were found guilty in federal court of violating his civil rights. And a year after that, LA became embroiled in another case pitting a black man, O.J. Simpson, against the police.

These data can be found in .

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