09/23/2016
At FiveFeetOfFury, Kathy Shaidle links to my story about Glenn Reynolds’s "run them down" tweet, with a videos of the beating of Reginald Denny by four black "protesters" during the LA Riots — an example of why you shouldn’t let yourself be pulled out of your car by protesters.
She mentions that
The black man who helped Denny was ostracized by other blacks. I’ll try to track down that interview. If you find it first, please let me know.One of the local blacks who rescued Denny was not only ostracized by other blacks, his life was threatened, and he had to leave town. Here’s an LA Times piece, ten years after the riots:
Overnight HeroesAfter the trials, which resulted in "acquittals and scaled-down convictions of the two main defendants who had beaten Denny", Bobby and Vera decided to leave town and go to a much more "peaceful" area, Rialto, California, which as of this writing is 16 percent black.It stunned them when Bobby and the three other rescuers became overnight heroes, their story rising to modern-day parable told by TV host Phil Donahue, countless other media outlets and the reality show "How'd They Do That?" A movie producer paid them a few hundred dollars each for the rights to their story.
At first Bobby wanted to protect his privacy, fearful of too much hostility in the neighborhood, Vera said.
He insisted TV interviewers use only his silhouette. He had more to fear when four suspects in the Denny beating were arrested. The young man he'd seen hitting Denny with the brick, Damian Monroe Williams, faced 17 felony counts carrying possible life sentences.
The Denny case moved through the courts in 1992 and 1993, as tension clenched an exhausted, riot-raw city. Like the Soon Ja Du and Rodney King cases, this trial carried heavy symbolism. Some viewed it as the reverse-race twin of the King beating trial, an example of how the system treats blacks with excessive criminal charges and unreasonable bail.
A tight-knit protest group dubbed "Free the LA 4+", a reference to the defendants, jammed the court hearings, distributed buttons and T-shirts and held rallies, one of which turned violent.
All the while Bobby had been out collecting awards and accolades: "For his integrity and bravery," said the California Legislature. "For humanitarianism," read the gold plate from the Los Angeles Urban League. For heroism, for providing hope in despair, for unselfishness, said Hollywood, a slew of city councils, a bank, and labor unions. The city of Opa Locka, Fla., even flew him and Vera out for a parade. Bobby shook hands with the mayor, who presented him with the key to the city.
Then, as the trial approached, the FBI asked Green if he wanted protection or another place to live. Vera grew fearful. Bobby had already heard the rumbling.
"I had threats, word of mouth; it would get to me from the streets," he said. "Like, 'Why did I save another person like that and disgrace our people? Why was I going to court to testify against my people?' "
Police escorted him to the courthouse to testify in August 1993, about what he saw and why he helped Denny.
Green told the jury that as a fellow trucker, he felt as though he was being beaten as he watched the attack on Denny.
"I felt like I was getting hurt," he testified. "I thought he might die. I went to help."
A Rescuer’s Tale: Fight, Then Flight Bobby Green is proud he helped save Reginald Denny. But his brave act also led him to leave L.A.
By Stephanie Chavez, April 22, 2002
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