Los Angeles Riots: 20th Anniversary of the 1992 Tragedy Sparked by the Beating of Rodney King (PHOTOS)

April 29, 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the 1992 Los Angeles Riot.

The riot started in April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one Hispanic LAPD officers accused of brutally beating of Rodney King (African American) after detaining him for high-speed driving.

Thousands of people in the Los Angeles area, mostly blacks and hispanics, rioted over the the verdict looting privately owned stores and small shops, assaulting, and killing people. 

Arson and murder were widespread and property damages totaled to roughly $1 billion. 

53 people died during the six-day riot and and hundreds if not thousands more were injured.

The Latinos Post provides the following pictures in order to recollect the tragic happening that marked the nation that year. 

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A combination photo shows businesses continue to burn out of control on the third day of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots in Koreatown May 1, 1992 (above) and South Vermont Avenue at San Marino Street intersection showing Korean American businesses along the street in Koreatown, Los Angeles, California April 25, 2012. This April 29 will mark the 20th anniversary of the riots following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King, which resulted in 53 deaths and an estimated $1 billion in damage. Pictures taken May 1, 1992 (top) and April 25, 2012. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

A combination picture shows a corner shopping center that was burned down during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and after it was fully rebuilt in Koreatown 26/04/2012 System ID: RTR318K0 Image ID: GM1E84Q1COX01 Photographer: REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang A combination picture shows a corner shopping center that was burned down during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots (top) May 1, 1992 and after it was fully rebuilt in Koreatown, Los Angeles, California April 25, 2012. This April 29 will mark the 20th anniversary of the riots following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King, which resulted in 53 deaths and an estimated $1 billion in damage. Pictures taken May 1, 1992 (top) and April 25, 2012. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Former editor of the Korea Times English Edition K.W. Lee shows his newspaper's February 24, 1992 issue during an interview in Fullerton, California, April 23, 2012. The newspaper published the Los Angeles Police Department's 1991 crime reports for Koreatown district in Los Angeles, two months before the 1992 Los Angeles Riots erupted following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. A total of 2,280 Korean American-owned stores were either burned and/or looted in the riots. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Juri Kang, 30, who was shot in the chest during a robbery at her family's gas station mini-market on October 19, 1991, shows a photograph of the station after it was destroyed in the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, during her first visit to the scene of the shooting in Los Angeles, California, April 23, 2012. Kang's family's business was looted and burned down during the riots that took place six months after the shooting. A Burger King restaurant stands where the business once stood. This April 29 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles Riots following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King, which resulted in 53 deaths and estimated $1 billion in damage. A total of 2,280 Korean American-owned stores were either burned and/or looted in the riots. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Los Angeles firefighters battle a blaze in a group of stores in South Central Los Angeles April 30, 1992 on the second day of the the Los Angeles Riots following the acquittals of four LAPD officers in the beating of motorist Rodney King. REUTERS/Lee Celano

A Los Angeles police officer stands in the aisle of a Payless shoe store April 30, 1992 after the store had been looted during riots which followed the April 29, 1992 acquittal of four LAPD officers in the videotaped beating of Rodney King. REUTERS/Lee Celano

Smoke billows from burning buildings in south central Los Angeles April 30, 1992 during the Los Angeles Riots, following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. REUTERS/Sam Mircovich

Looters carry away goods from a store during the Los Angeles riots in South-Central Los Angeles, April 30, 1992, following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. REUTERS/Sam Mircovich

Looters flee a store during the Los Angeles Riots in the ealy morning hours of April 30, 1992, following the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. REUTERS/Lee Celano

A California National Guardsman stands watch over a riot-torn area of South-Central Los Angeles April 30, 1992 on the second day of rioting after a jury acquitted four Los Angeles police officers in the videotaped beating of motorist Rodney King. REUTERS/Lou Dematteis