Outcome Rekindles Political Hostilities : Fallout: Police, government leaders blame each other. Charter Amendment F, Reiner may be losers.

In the deafening silence of a South-Central Los Angeles campaign office Wednesday afternoon, a young African-American political consultant found herself struggling with a painful reaction to what had just occurred.

Like others involved in the campaign to change the way the Los Angeles Police Department is run, she was grappling with the fear that a yearlong struggle to reform the department had expired in the few minutes it took to announce the acquittal of four officers in the Rodney G. King beating case.

“I’m still dumbstruck,” said Marcella Howell. “I don’t think I have much to say.”

By the time darkness set in, and with it reports of fires and beatings, the threat of political fallout was extending well beyond the campaign for charter change. Some of the hostilities that virtually paralyzed city government immediately after the King beating were rekindled, as police and politicians blamed each other for the verdict and its violent aftermath.

As an angry crowd at police headquarters downtown called for Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to resign now, City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said, “The chief of police unfortunately is a liability. He symbolizes something that is very offensive.

“Part of that is the result of irresponsible and unrestrained remarks the chief has made over the years he has been in office and over the past few days.”

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who directed the prosecution in the King case, also came under fire, and critics promised that his handling of the case would be a major issue in his campaign for reelection in November.

The verdict amounts to a “kiss of death for Ira Reiner,” said Eric Rose, a City Hall lobbyist and political consultant.

“Let’s face it, when it comes to prosecuting high-profile cases, Ira doesn’t have the Midas touch--he can’t win the big one,” Rose said.

At the red brick headquarters of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, police union leaders pointed angry fingers at Mayor Tom Bradley and the City Council, many of whose members are up for reelection next year. League officials said the politicians had stripped the police of their ability to restrain suspects with upper body holds, leaving officers with few tools to subdue suspects beyond the billy clubs used in the King arrest.

At a press conference Wednesday night, Peggy Estrada, a leader in the campaign against Charter Amendment F, blamed Bradley for contributing to the violence. Shortly after the acquittals, Bradley held a press conference deploring the verdict.

“How dare he make a press conference saying the system is wrong, justice is not served,” Estrada said. “He gave permission for this (the disturbances) to occur.”

It was a particularly difficult night for the mayor. As Bradley urged a gathering at First African Methodist Episcopal Church to funnel their emotions into a “yes” vote for charter change, he was greeted with a mixture of applause and boos. Several in the audience shouted, “What are you going to do? What are you going to do?”

“We can make the difference. We can create change,” Bradley said in urging citizens to vote in favor of the charter amendment.

While the verdict may mobilize some voters, it could well have a different effect on others, said pollster Richard Maullin, who has conducted surveys for proponents of charter change. “This beating, and all it invokes, no longer imparts a clear message. It is only going to add to people’s confusion,” he said.

Political observers also were warning that rioting could spark a voter backlash.

“If an innocent verdict severely arouses the black community and there is trouble in the streets, in the long run it could be quite damaging to the reform campaign,” said Raphael Sonenshein, a UCLA political scientist and a supporter of the police reform measures.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the campaign against amending the charter expressed confidence that Wednesday’s verdict would help their cause.

“I feel this will be a big plus for the vote ‘no’ on the Charter Amendment F campaign,” said Don Clinton, chairman of Citizens for Integrity and Viability in the City Charter. “It will instill in people the belief that maybe Chief Gates was right all along. Maybe our Police Department is better than we realized.”

The proposed amendment, which will be on the June 2 ballot, would give City Hall new powers over the police chief, limit the chief’s tenure to two five-year terms and expand the role of citizens on the city’s Board of Police Commissioners.

Until Wednesday, the King beating and the trial had been potent ammunition for the campaign for charter change. It was, after all, the beating that set in motion the entire chain of events--from the Christopher Commission’s report on racism and excessive force to the selection of a new police chief.

As the campaign for charter change worked to raise money during the past two months, it could rely on the daily newscasts of the trial, along with repeated airings of the videotape to bring home the central point of the campaign--that this was a department in need of top-down repairs.

But when a Ventura County jury returned a verdict that few people in the campaign anticipated, the vote took on a different significance. Now, it gives the voters of Los Angeles a chance to re-examine the King case, as well as the Christopher Commission findings, and decide whether the evidence warrants an overhaul of the department.

“We will have our chance to distinguish between what the jury said is not criminal behavior and what we as human beings saw with our own eyes,” said Ira Yellin, president of the American Jewish Committee and a key supporter of the charter amendment.

“In the turbulent times ahead,” said campaign consultant Steve Glazer, “people will want a legal and moral standard for police behavior. The Christopher Commission’s recommendations for the ballot provide that standard.”

But in the campaign’s San Fernando Valley office, supporters were quick to admit they faced an uphill battle.

“Obviously, it would be a lot easier battle if there not acquittals,” said lawyer Janice Reznik, who is coordinating the campaign in the valley.

More than ever, said Reznik, the campaign’s challenge will be to remind people that the verdict does not contradict the Christopher Commission findings that racism and excessive force are widely condoned in the Police Department, and that changing those attitudes requires making the department more accountable.

As the violence increased throughout Wednesday night, people on both sides of the campaign were wishing the King beating had never happened.

“If I had a magic wand, I would erase March 3 of last year off the calendar,” said Estrada of the campaign against charter change.

Also contributing to the verdict coverage were Times staff writers Bob Baker, Leslie Berger, Bill Boyarsky, Edward J. Boyer, Stephen Braun, Greg Braxton, Stephanie Chavez, Rich Connell, Michael Connelly, Miles Corwin, David Dorion, Ashley Dunn, Ken Ellingwood, Paul Feldman, Andrea Ford, Laura Galloway, Mark Gladstone, Gary Gorman, Scott Harris, Carl Ingram, Greg Krikorian, Charisse Jones, Daryl Kelley, Marc Lacey, Penelope McMillan, Victor Merina, Frederick M. Muir, Jim Newton, Ronald J. Ostrow, Bill Plaschke, Bob Pool, James Rainey, George Ramos, Cecilia Rasmussen, Mack Reed, Kenneth Reich, Phil Sneiderman, Edith Stanley, Cynthia Viers, Daniel M. Weintraub, Tracy Wood and Eric Young.