Lest We Forget — August 11: The Watts Riots of 1965

On the evening of Wednesday, August 11, 1965, 21-year-old Marquette Frye, an African American man driving his mother’s 1955 Buick, was pulled over by California Highway Patrol motorcycle officer Lee Minikus for alleged reckless driving. After failing a field sobriety test, Frye was placed under arrest, and Minikus called for his vehicle to be impounded. Marquette’s brother, Ronald Frye, who was in the car, walked to their nearby home and returned with their mother, Rena Price. Witnesses say she scolded her son for drinking and driving. But what began as a traffic stop quickly escalated. Tensions flared when an officer allegedly shoved Price. Frye was struck, Price jumped in to defend him, and another officer drew a shotgun. Physical force was used to subdue Frye, and as more officers arrived, the crowd swelled. Rumors spread that police had assaulted a pregnant woman. Community outrage boiled over. People began throwing rocks and debris at officers. Frye, his mother, and his brother were arrested, but the unrest was just beginning. Over the next six days, a 46-square-mile area of Los Angeles became a combat zone — 34 people were killed, more than 1,000 injured, nearly 4,000 arrested, and hundreds of buildings burned or looted. The Watts Riots were not an isolated incident — they were the result of years of racial injustice, police brutality, and economic oppression. In times like these, we must remember. The causes of 1965 still echo today. Let this anniversary be a warning and a call: that those in power take heed, and that we never again allow injustice to push communities to the breaking point.