Civil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau LA...

Civil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the quot;not guiltyquot; verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, â€Å"estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were burned, and about 10,000 people were arrested.†(Khalifah 89) The 1992 riots in the City of Los Angeles were arguably the most devastating civil disturbance in the history of the United States. Anyone can say that a law is unfair and†¦show more content†¦Thoreau also peacefully served his time. Both men knew the consequences for their actions yet went along and committed the crime. Their crimes were not vengeful or harmful against a living soul. While LA Riot often been characterized as a race riot, involving mass law-breaking, including looting and arson. â€Å"The riot was as much about empty bellies and broken hearts as it was about police batons and Rodney King.†(97 Davis) However, their crimes were statements stating that the government cannot make anyone goes against his or her beliefs. Martin Luther King and Henry David Thoreau both believed that one should stand up for what he believes in, as wells as accepting the consequences for his actions. Even though they also had different views about what makes law just or unjust. First of all, â€Å"Martin Luther King believed that a law that is just should be square with the moral law or the law of God.†(____) This basically means a law should pertain to the Ten Commandments according to the bible. He also thought â€Å"an unjust law was one that was inflicted on to a minority who did not even have the right to vote for this law in the first place.†(____) Thoreau is basically rallying for the absence of government in the lives of the citizens. He believed that everyone should govern himself. He also believed that â€Å"no one should have to ride on the shoulders of the government, but inste ad rely on himself.†(____) He thought people should treat other people the way theyShow MoreRelatedCivil Disobedience Martin Luther King David Thoreau La Riot1146 Words   |  5 PagesCivil Disobedience On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the not guilty verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were