An Impromptu Militia, The Roof Koreans
Sa-I-Gu and the importance of the Second Amendment.
During the 1992 riots in Los Angeles, California, after the verdict acquitting LAPD officers in the beating of Rodney King, businesses were being burned and looted.
When seconds counted the police were not just minutes away, but because of the overwhelming size of the riot they often did not come at all.
"The police cannot protect the citizen at this stage of our development, and they cannot even protect themselves in many cases. It is up to the private citizen to protect himself and his family, and this is not only acceptable, but mandatory." ~ Jeff Cooper
In the segment of L. A. where many Koreans had settled, the immigrants protected their businesses, and subsequently did not suffer as badly as many others even though many Korean businesses were burned to the ground. Some 2200 Korean businesses were either looted and/or burned. The rooftop Koreans were mostly protecting businesses that they owned themselves, whereas a convenience store owned by a corporation would not usually be protected by employees. The Koreans were protecting the livelihoods of their families, and the Korean areas were minority communities, which put them low on the cities priority list. Attacks against them were often racist, but they were not of the correct race to concern the social justice warriors, and the racial problems between themselves and the black community predated the riots.
The left leaning Wikipedia article concerning the 1992 Las Angeles riots is in the link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots
From a more liberty oriented source:
And a video concerning the events:
(Go to 5 ½ minutes for the start of the Korean coverage.)
"The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." ~ Jeff Cooper
The L.A. riots are referred to as Sa-I-Gu, meaning April 29th, by the Korean Americans. Many Korean men had had military training in South Korea since South Korea requires two years of military service of all males. Some were actually North Korean and had escaped to the South before emigrating to the U.S. They apparently persuaded many rioters, if not to the path of righteousness, to at least be corrected by good men with rifles. They seemed to believe that they were in the land of the free and the home of the brave, or maybe they believed the old Chinese proverb:
A radio station in L.A. was known as Radio Korea as it's listeners were mainly the Korean community. From there an impromptu militia was organized of Koreans, mostly veterans, and something of an organizational structure took hold. For four days the Koreans prevented further destruction of their properties, no doubt saving Koreatown from virtually total destruction, until the arrival of the Army and National Guard.
It comes to mind that this event illustrates a good part of the reason for the Second Amendment. Without it evil may be allowed to run loose, as in Los Angeles.
"Arms discourage and keep the invader and plunderer in awe, and preserve order in the world as well as property... Horrid mischief would ensue were the law-abiding deprived of the use of them." ~ Thomas Paine
Not to mention the possible evil resulting from a government sliding into corruption.
"Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed, as they are in almost every country in Europe." ~ Noah Webster
Some are appalled by this story of the Roof Koreans, claiming it is vigilantism, but are we all expected to just let our cities by burned and looted? The results of the last few years indicate that the answer is yes, we are expected to just let our cities be burned and looted, and If you try to stop it you will be prosecuted. Totalitarians don't like the idea of personal self defense since it decreases their control.
"The totalitarian states can do great things, but there is one thing they cannot do: they cannot give the factory-worker a rifle and tell him to take it home and keep it in his bedroom. That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's cottage, is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays there." - George Orwell
It's much like a farmer shaving off the horns of his cattle; it's for his safety, not theirs. They will claim that protection will be provided for you, but such a thing is simply impossible unless everyone has his own, personal police officer. (Answer to the question “why do you carry a gun? Because a cop is too heavy.”)
"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom." ~ John F. Kennedy
Consider the summer of 2020 here in the U.S., sometimes called the Summer of Love. Parts of major cities were burned and looted, with a significant number of people injured and killed. The riots were generally reported as “mostly peaceful,” an Orwellian term if there ever was one. We are expected to believe that they were the result of good-hearted people working for racial harmony, but the evidence is that they were planned and coordinated. Busloads of the reprehensible were brought in from far away and “across state lines,” while we were given the impression that they were outraged local citizens.
That scenario did not play out everywhere. Smaller cities outside of the extreme blue states often held off the destruction, probably where the citizens would not be prosecuted for defending themselves, such as in Idaho:
(As an aside, there is Detroit, the blue carbuncle of Michigan. The police chief in 2020, one James Craig, was a black man who experienced the Detroit riots while a young lad, then was treated to a repeat as a police officer in Los Angeles. He told Antifa that they could protest all they wanted, but any crimes and they were going to jail. He was backed up by the prosecutor and the Democrat mayor. Thus Detroit escaped.)
Nevertheless our cities were mostly burned and looted, with many people being killed. Why did we allow this? Why was a nation of the armed, the land of the free and the home of the brave, attacked in this manner with so few repercussions? One would expect an entire nation of Roof Persons, but it did not happen. If the riots are repeated will the burning and looting be allowed again?
Should Koreatown be allowed to be burned down so as to secure the power of the powerful?
"The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms has justly been considered the palladium of the liberties of the republic, since it offers a strong moral check against the usurpation and arbitrary power of the rulers, and will generally, even if these are successful in the first instance, enable the people to resist and triumph over them." - Supreme Court Justice, Joseph Story, 1833
It seems likely that these riots are in fact part of an attempt at the usurpation of power.
"Militias, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves and include all men capable of bearing arms. [...] To preserve liberty it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." ~ Richard Henry Lee
Stay brave, stay free.
Better to be judged by 12, than carried by 6.
Wonderful article and sobering reminder!