March 16, 1991

On this date in 1991, Latasha Harlins was killed.

Latasha Harlins entered the Empire Liquor Market on South Figueroa in Compton in 1991. She had two dollar bills in her hand to pay for a bottle of orange juice, but when store owner Soon Ja Du saw her put that juice into a backpack, Du assumed Harlins was shoplifting.

Latasha, age 15, was shot in the back of her head by grocery-store owner Soon Ja Du thirteen days after the infamous Rodney King beating in 1991. What began as a dispute at Du’s South-Central Los Angeles store and ended with Latasha lying dead on the ground with a $1.79 bottle of orange juice sitting on the counter and two crumpled dollar bills in her hand.

The merchant, Soon Ja Du, a 49-year old Korean woman who, with her husband, owned the Empire Liquor Market Deli in South Central LA, was charged with murder.

Eight months after shooting Harlins, Du went to trial. She claimed self-defense, but a jury found her guilty of manslaughter. Du faced a possible 16-year prison term, but rookie judge Joyce Karlin sentenced her to five years probation, four hundred hours of community service, $500 fine, and a suspended prison term. As several media outlets pointed out, Du’s jail time for shooting Harlins was less than the 30 days that another Korean immigrant received for shooting his dog.

This incident illustrated the perceived racist treatment of Koreans towards blacks and the timing of the verdict, coupled with the King case, led to all hell breaking loose.

African American L.A. was outraged and took to protests, chanting,
“No justice, no peace.”

Five months later, when the LAPD officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King were acquitted, Los Angeles erupted in rioting — with many arsonists chanting, “No justice, no peace!”

The store was later firebombed.

The L.A. riots were about much more than just Rodney King…