This Twitter account is tweeting the events of the Watts riots as they unfolded in real time 50 years ago
On that date, a white police officer pulled over a black motorist on suspicion of DUI in the predominately black neighborhood.
A violent confrontation ensued, which became the tipping point for a community long-burdened by the scourge of systemic racism from within the Los Angeles Police Department, and the city at large.
The riots lasted six days and resulted in the deaths of 34 people. One thousand more were injured. Four thousand people were arrested. Property damage estimates climbed to $40 million, according to the University of Southern California archives. The anniversary of the riots takes on special significance this year in light of more recent racial tension in Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland, after police there were accused of killing unarmed black men.
The Twitter account @WattsRiots50 is memorializing the Watts riots in a very unique way by tweeting the events of the riots as they unfolded in real time 50 years ago. Three days into the riot, the account has generated 135 tweets and gathered 1,788 followers.
Here are some of the tweets: