What Are Your Memories of the L.A. Riots, 20 Years Later?

April 29 marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 L.A. Riots. The widely televised upheaval, also referred to as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, was sparked by the acquittal of four LAPD officers—three white and one Latino—who were accused of brutally beating an African American man and Altadena resident, Rodney King, in 1991.

Over the next several days, Los Angeles exploded into a frenzy of violence, looting, arson and murder that began in what was then predominantly black South-Central L.A (now named South L.A., a predominantly Latino area). According to one of the most reliable estimates, the rioting claimed 53 lives, left thousands injured and reportedly damaged property worth $1 billion.

The office of Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who represented South-Central L.A., burned down during the riots. Waters defended the loss of her office building as “one of the victims of the rebellion,” which, in turn, she described in a May 10, 1992 Los Angeles Times article as "a spontaneous reaction to a lot of injustice and a lot of alienation and frustration."

For those of you who lived in Monrovia or elsewhere in Southern California we want to know what do you remember most about those times? How did you feel? Was there tension in Monrovia?

We want to know your memories from that time: where were you during those times?  Did you witness rioting?  How did you feel about what was happening? And what lessons have we learned since then?  Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.