The truck driver who was the first victim of the riots after being dragged
from his cab at the Florence and Normandie junction. Denny suffered 90
fractures and had to undergo years of therapy to restore his speech. He
publicly forgave his attackers and even met one of them for a TV show. He is
now 56 and a boat mechanic in Arizona.
HENRY “KIKI” WATSON
Watson, a former US Marine, was 27 when he was filmed stomping on Reginald
Denny’s head. He was convicted of assault, and later personally apologised
to Denny. He still lives a few blocks away and runs a successful limousine
service. He said: “I got caught up in the emotions like everyone else.
The anger and the rage just took hold to where I, nor anyone who was out
there that day, was in their right frame of mind.”
DAMIAN “FOOTBALL” WILLIAMS
Williams, a 19-year-old gang member, was a former high school American
football star. He smashed Denny in the back of the head with a brick and was
sentenced to 10 years in prison. Released after four years, he was then
convicted in 2003 of murdering a drug dealer and jailed for life with a
minimum of 46 years.
DARYL GATES
Gates had been Los Angeles’s chief of police for 14 years and was nationally
respected for pioneering SWAT teams. He was a polarising figure because of
his hardline approach to policing. A commission blamed him for a slow
response to the riots. He retired a month after the riots and died from
cancer at the age of 83 in 2010.
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