The 16 months between the broadcast of home video of the brutal beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles Police Department officers and the resignation of Chief Daryl Gates were marked by gripping tension that broke in the turbulence of the 1992 riots. Calls for Gates’ removal came from across the political left and center of Los Angeles. Voices included Mayor Tom Bradley, a cautious insider; loyal Democrat and future U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher; Police Commissioner Stanley Sheinbaum; U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters; and a variety of activists.
As chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California from 1987 to 1994, Danny Goldberg had a front-row seat as that coalition put aside its ideological differences to force Gates out.
