However, as the Chief of Police had already decided that no disciplinary action should be taken, it would violate the of ficers' right to due process to take any action. All of this history needs to be taken into account when considering the explosion of anger that greeted the acquittal of Sergeant Koon and the other three officers. The King case was, as most Angelenos knew, merely the tip of the iceberg, but with the video evidence they expected justice for once. The dashing of that expectation was the immediate spark for the riots. US riots have been investigated in detail over the years, and study after study has found that they are very often started by police brutality.
People can adapt themselves to an appalling level of poverty and misery without rioting.
Police repression, however, can ignite the tinderbox. In 1992, the tinderbox turned out to be a large part of Los Angeles. Despite that stark warning, the social conditions and the police criminality that caused the riots continue to exist in many American cities.