Scenes From the 1992 L.A. Riots — and How These Spots Have Changed 25 Years Later

Ted SoquiArts

A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.La Usuluteca.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Shortly after the 1992 riotsA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Shortly after the 1992 riotsA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.not much has changed. Many businesses have not come back to the area.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Police officers formed a line in front of Parker CenterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.on the first evening of the L.A. riots.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.LAPD's former headquartersA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.is now closed and due to be torn down.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Two armed officers stood guard in front of an electronics store on Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue after it was looted by rioters.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.the mini mall at Sixth and Western has been completely rebuilt — and Koreatown as a whole has seen much redevelopment.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Rioters overturned and burned a parking kiosk near Parker Center during the riots.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Parker Center.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.This mini mall was burned and looted in Mid-City during the riots.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.A new Mid-City shopping structure was built where the former one burned and is almost entirely leased out to businesses.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.A group of children walked by businesses on West Adams Boulevard that were destroyed by the riots.A Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.Twenty-five years laterA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurantA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurantA Trak Auto Parts store on West Washington Boulevard near Norton Avenue was burned and looted during the riots; 25 years later, the former Trak Auto Parts store is now a restaurant, La Usuluteca.

For some, the riots materialized at a distance: a television newscast that could no longer be ignored, or columns of smoke that began rising on the horizon. For others, they began brutally: with a punch in the face or a kick to the head. And for far too many, the awareness that something was deeply wrong dawned not on April 29, 1992, but much earlier. The riots divided Los Angeles, and a quarter of a century after the fires were finally put out, the outline of the damage is still there. The city is still too divided. But the riots also united some communities. And by revisiting what happened 25 years ago, all of Los Angeles might find more common ground. Photos by Ted Soqui.

Read our oral history of the L.A. riots, in which 10 Angelenos revisit what they witnessed that day.

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