KING CASE AFTERMATH: A CITY IN CRISIS : Voices

“You’re working with different cultures in your own country. You don’t know where they’re coming from or what they think of you.”

Staff Sgt. Jack Nix, a 19-year National Guard veteran

“They were going to torch us last night, but we were yelling: ‘It’s black-owned! It’s black-owned!’ They think all cleaners are owned by Koreans. Putting up a black sign helped. We have to identify ourselves.”

Anita Rhodes, 30, as she worked behind the counter at her father’s dry-cleaning store

“There was a sense of unity. This unity hasn’t been around since the Black Power movement of the ‘60s. The major gangs aren’t shooting at each other. People are helping black business owners out. Blacks aren’t fighting blacks anymore. It hasn’t been the best way of showing unity, but it sends a message that we’re sick and tired of what’s happening.”

Thabiti Sabahive, 18, a freshman at Cal Poly Pomona who lives in South Los Angeles

“They want to treat us like animals, we’ll have to act like animals. Once they treat us like human beings, maybe we’ll act like human beings. We can only go through this for so long. If you can beat up a black man, of course we can beat up a lot of white guys.”

Ron Smith, 25, watching two friends looting

“I see everybody going in. I’m a poor person. I need to help myself. I’m not breaking the law. I see the store open, so I go.”

Eva Burns, stealing groceries

“This is not just us tearing apart our community. Everybody is pissed off. We have tried to be peaceful, but that didn’t work.”

Thaddeus Little, 31, of Altadena, looter

“If you’ve been oppressed and suppressed for so long, crying out for change and not being heard, you take the matter into your own hands. We’re wrong, they’re wrong, everybody’s wrong.”

Antonio Jerome, an onlooker

“Our ambulances got all shot up. We had a brand new one with 2,000 miles, and it was killed by a bullet to the engine.”

Alan R. Cowen, chief of the Fire Department’s paramedics

“I’m talking about injuries like a hand blown off, a stab wound to the eye, massive head injuries, gunshot wounds to the chest and lacerated tendons. These people were driven here and came to us through our lobby.”

Gail Margolis, Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital’s legal counsel

“It’s everybody. It’s kids, women with children. We have no guarantees in the city of Los Angeles. We can’t call the cops. We can’t call anyone. You’re on your own. Is there ever going to be an end to this?”

Thomas Gutierrez, 40, owner of the Gold Seal Auto Parts store on Washington Boulevard

“It makes me sick, physically sick. . . . I don’t think people anticipated things would burst forth this soon. It’s been 25 years since Watts and the rebuilding is finally taking place, and now it’s all lost again. It’s a great sadness.”

Police Commissioner Ann Reiss Lane