Zoot Suit Riots (2002)

Los Angeles erupts in violence

Directed by Joseph Tovares53mHistory,Documentary

On August 1, 1942, a 22-year-old Mexican American man was stabbed to death at a party. To white Los Angelenos, the murder was just more proof that Mexican American crime was spiraling out of control. The police fanned out across LA, netting 600 young Mexican American suspects. Almost all those taken into custody were wearing the distinctive uniform of their generation: Zoot Suits. The tragic murder and the injustice of the trial that followed, coupled with sensational news coverage of both, fanned the flames of the racial hostility that was already running rife in the city. Within months of the verdict, Los Angeles was in the grip of some of the worst violence in its history.

Rated

Year

2002

Country

Language

English

Release date

1 March 2002

TMDB

7.0 (1)

CineVerse

— (0)