Title supplied by cataloger. The following is a statement from the photographer about the event captured here: "Of course this image is a favorite par excellence. We had seen a caravan of several black and white police vehicles speeding up the hill and approaching the rioters. I checked my exposure settings,which were seat-of-the-pants estimates at best -- there was no time to finesse such things. It was obvious the deputies were going to drive through the rioters. You could see the hoods of the cars dip as they slowed momentarily and then surge ahead directly through the crowd. I remember thinking ‘...they're gonna kill those people, Oh my God ...!!!' I thought ‘remember to pan with the lead car, focus, keep your finger on the shutter let the motor do the work and keep shooting...’ and then it was over and we followed the cars up the hill where a female deputy was in her unit surrounded by the crowd beating on the car and screaming God knows what. Well, those are the highlights. Mike and I got many excellent photos and one hell of a load of memories. Was it fun? YES IT WAS FUN! Were we scared? I remember being very scared but the excitement was overwhelming. It had all the elements of those dangerous events we are so often called on to cover: The screaming, yelling crowd breaking up concrete and asphalt to throw at the enemy, cops with drawn pistols, rifles, and shotguns, tear gas projectiles streaking smoke trails through the air, gun shots, people on the ground yelling and crying, smoke from arson fires, hate filled faces fanatical in their existence...and what a scene it was, what a circus…may these types of things never cease to provide us with the adrenalin, the excitement, the fear of what can only be termed 'THE REAL THING.’” A woman is struck by a police vehicle during a riot in the Trousdale Estates neighborhood in Beverly Hills on January 2, 1979.
Type
image
Format
1 photographic print :b&w ;21 x 26 cm. Photographic prints
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