Riots - What to do?

Thankfully, I have not been in a riot in this country. However, during my extended travels and residence in other countries, I have been in the midst of several riots (both economic and political in nature), and that experience prompted me to do some research on riots, particularly about the LA riots.

The nature of mass psychology of mobs being what it is, it is very unpredictable to determine what the mob will or will not do if confronted by active resistance. The outcome really depends on many factors, including how organized each side is (both "attack" and "defense"), how they are armed, the nature of the "triggering" events, presence (or lack of) "leaders" among the rioters, etc. etc.

During my foreign stays, I have observed a riot during which a couple hundred riot police/military officers (armed with tear gas and rubber bullets) were overwhelmed by several hundred rioters armed with nothing but a few molotov cocktails and sticks in what can only be described as a "bloodlust." On the other side of the scale, I have also seen hundreds of rioters "quelled" by a dozen police officers in another incident.

What I am getting at is that mass psychology of a mob is a highly unpredictable thing. You cannot ALWAYS count on a few warning shots or "I am taking the first ten of you with me" attitude to save the day. Sometimes it works and cowers the looters/rioters into retreat or dispersion. Other times, it may incite them into a frenzy of "revenge" particularly during "race" riots.

Again, would you be willing to take that chance and put your family in the midst of all that chatoic violence in order to save your property, particularly when it is possible to evacuate the area? Some of you may be, and I do wish you and your families luck, but I am not. My family is the most important thing to me in the world. I've given up ridiculously generous employment opportunities to be together with my family. I personally am willing to lose my belongings many times over and start again if it means that the chance of my family survival will increase several orders of magnitude during bouts of chaotic violence.

I suppose that, in the end, we all have to make those choices and live (or die) with the consequences.

Skorzeny
 
Skorzeny -

A very eloquent response. I'm glad to see there are still people out there with strong ties to their families. You have my respect, sir.
 
There IS an option to shooting people charging thru your door.

You dont really want to stack em up do you ? Too many legall issues to deal with.

However...you cant just let the punks have run of the place either.

The option is rubber buck shot. Hurts like heck, and will deter most people. When they are shot with it , it leaves big blue bruises all over them. If they persist, you can legally say that you used a less than lethal detterant, and you did all you could do to prevent harm. Just be advised that at less than 20 feet , it could still be lethal.

Police have been using it with very good results. It takes the fight right out of people, and they live to apologize for their temporary stupidity.

I dare say if you got charged by punks and you delieved a few rounds of rubber buck shot to them, you would never see them again and there would be NO legal issues to deal with by anti-gun laywers. Its a win -win situation.
 
Skorzeny wrote:

. . . Korean-American shopkeepers (sometimes an entire family of them) attempted to defend the stores with firearms, but were overpowered or forced to retreat and abandon the premises...
Click to expand...

An organized horde of determined aggressors CAN overrun a few armed people. But against an unorganized rabble of looters, I find it hard to accept that an entire family of armed & determined shop owners would be forced to retreat. Unless they were NOT all well armed, or NOT really determined, and hoped a mere "show of force" would scare the rioters off...and the mob picked up on that. At the very least, I'd think a fusillade of gunfire would leave the first wave or two "stacked up" just inside the door..but I never heard of this happening.

Which leads to my next question, for those of you living in California: According to the media, around 60 people died in LA's Rodney King riots. But I've NEVER seen any demographics on the victims. Were they mostly innocuous victims like Reginald Denney, or were they mostly rioters who picked on the wrong victim? What percentage of the deceased had prior convictions?
 
CSOs Rock and Spectre:

Thank you for the compliments. Not to be off topic, but I think that too many people put careers and money ahead of what's really important - wife (or husband) and children - and do not realize that, at the end, the only thing you really have is the love of your family. Personally, I don't intend to let that slip through in pursuit of money (don't get me wrong, I like the things that money can buy just as much as the next person).

I hear people often talking about "making up time later." I don't believe in that. Time lost is time lost and cannot be "made up" later. I don't intend to lose time with my family. So I am willing to give up lucrative jobs in return. If that means I have a less expensive car or a smaller house, so be it.

HankB:

In many cases, riots are not monolithic in nature. Meaning, they are not always made up of mindless, violent looters OR highly organized groups.

Usually, it is a mix of the two. There are well-organized cells with various agenda during riots (with motives ranging from killing cops and firefighters to attacking ethnic rivals or scapegoats). Layered around them is usually the mass of opportunistic looters and thugs, who are simply along for the ride to steal TVs and shoes.

Also, looters (whether of the first or second variety) do not always line up and charge into the store like so many mindless zombies in video games. With only 4 or 5 to defend a store in a highly exposed area, 10-20 armed thugs among 100-200 looters can easily overwhelm even the most determined defenders. In the case of the Korean-American family I tangentially discussed earlier, most members of the family were hurt from gunfire and had to retreat (together, of course). The store was then looted and burned.

BTW, from some grapevine, I heard a rumor that the Korean-American merchants in the hard-hit areas (those who remained, that is) have surreptiously organized for area defense and prepared contingency plans, which include positioning earthmoving equipment to block vehicle traffic along major avenues into their areas and stationing volunteer teams of snipers to block foot traffic.

It could just be a rumor, but if true, it does sound like they learned some lessons - mainly that active and organized defense by the whole neighborhood is better than disorganized groups fighting on their own in each block. Certainly some of the merchants I spoke to pointedly told me about their determination not to be "the shield for wealthy white neighborhoods."

Lastly, I found out that the Korean-American community in LA have made a concerted effort to reach out to the African-Americans in the area "in an effort to bridge the ethnic chasm and bring understanding between the two groups."

Certainly worthy efforts, though the effectiveness remains to be seen.

Skorzeny
 
My dad's store was one of those looted.

I know nothing of a "deal" or "pact" to protect fellow businesses. He would share that type of info too.

Then again... I don't know of many other Korean businesses around my dad's store.
 
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