Leaders Working to Quash Unsupported Riot Rumors

As a jittery Los Angeles inches toward verdicts in the Rodney G. King civil rights trial, chilling and often wildly unsubstantiated rumors of impending violence are swirling through offices, shops and neighborhoods across the county.

Law enforcement officials, political leaders and rumor control hot lines are struggling to douse the gossip as it leaps from place to place via alarming flyers and community and business grapevines.

In the South Bay, authorities have denounced a hoax in which an official-sounding, inflammatory leaflet predicts riot-related attacks on area cities and thousands of deaths. A notice sent to Westside office tenants claims that police will block roads and impose a dusk-to-dawn curfew when the verdicts come in--but no such official decisions have been made. And an LAPD deputy chief felt moved this week to criticize Encino residents for slipping into hysteria during a riot-preparedness meeting.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams, in a Town Hall meeting broadcast Friday, tried to discourage rumormongers while reassuring the public.

“There are tens of thousands of rumors around every day,” Williams said. “ A lot of it is . . . fear on the part of members of the community. It’s fear on the part of the Los Angeles Police Department as well. We’re following every little tidbit of information.”

Among the unsubstantiated rumors authorities are trying to quash: that law enforcement officials believe a major outbreak of violence is certain; that gangs have plans to target certain suburban enclaves; that gangs have stockpiled large caches of weapons and will use stolen police uniforms to impersonate officers.

“There is no evidence we’ve seen of any organized effort” to plan for violence after the federal civil rights trial, said Deputy Mayor Mark Fabiani, a key figure in overseeing the multi-agency preparations for possible civil disorder.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Douglas McClure said: “Our department has noevidence of any organized, conspiratorial efforts on the part of any street gangs, period.”

Although many weapons were taken in looting last year, law enforcement officials believe they represent a very small percentage of the guns on the streets, LAPD spokesman Lt. John Dunkin said. Some police uniforms were stolen from a dry cleaner’s during last year’s disturbance, but Dunkin said LAPD uniforms are sent to dry cleaners without buttons, badges and other accessories--which are crucial to assuming the appearance of an LAPD officer.

Still, the rumors seem to be picking up as the case of four police officers charged in the King beating appears to be headed to the jury as early as next week.

One anonymous flyer circulated widely in South Bay neighborhoods--and denounced by local law enforcement officials--purports to have inside official information of cities targeted in the area and predictions of thousands of deaths. “We quickly dismissed it as being a hoax,” said El Segundo Police Sgt. John Ogden, whose department tried unsuccessfully to track down the source of the flyer.

A Westside office building manager notified tenants that the “LAPD expects trouble no matter what verdict is returned” and outlined supposed city plans for imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew and sealing off nearby freeway exits. Authorities said no such decisions have been made.

Fear and hostility reached a fever pitch during a “riot-preparedness” meeting of about 60 Encino homeowners Tuesday night. The session opened with Homeowners of Encino Vice President Joe Dancygier saying: “It’s been heard through the grapevine that they’re going to come here and riot and burn down the Valley. We need to take a stand--either we take our city back, or we let everybody else have our city.” LAPD Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker, a normally mild-mannered diplomat for the department who was in attendance, upbraided several people in the group.

“I think you need to reduce the hysteria I’m feeling in this room,” Kroeker told the group. “Hysteria is more dangerous, in a way, than the problems you are describing. We are fully prepared and fully committed to protecting you with everything we have, including our lives.”

Williams also assured the public of “maximum enforcement deployed throughout the city.”

“We’re not getting ready to go to war,” he said, “but we want to assure the community that they can go to work, go to school, go outside and carry on with their lives.”

The rumors hit close to home for Asian-American merchants in riot-scarred areas. Word has spread of not-so-thinly veiled threats, said Deborah Ching, executive director of the Chinatown Service Center, a nonprofit health and human services organization. There is a fear that would-be looters are already studying potential targets, she said.

Ching said business owners who have rebuilt since last year’s riots feel particularly vulnerable. “They feel people are looking at them, to kind of finish off the job. There’s a clear hostility.”

Meanwhile, Estelle Van Meter, a South-Central resident for 31 years, said there are concerns among African-Americans that police protection, should there be more rioting, will be focused on “protecting white neighborhoods.”

“I’m tired of being ostracized,” said Van Meter, who is the founder and president of the Estelle Van Meter Multi-Purpose Center in South Los Angeles.

Some of the rumors appear to stem from media coverage, including recent articles quoting inner-city gang members who say that if violence erupts again they will take to suburban neighborhoods. Authorities view those as being largely isolated comments, rather than a sign of organized planning.

Still, they have helped whip up fears in outlying areas.

Frank Wills, who became San Marino’s police chief just seven weeks ago, said he had been fielding two calls a day, until they slowed last week to just one a day.

“I had one yesterday,” Wills said. “A lady went to her dentist and the dentist told her rumor has it that San Marino is targeted.”

Robert Aguayo, a former gang member who works with gangs in the Echo Park area, said rumors of planned violence aimed at suburban areas are “mumbo jumbo.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard people say, ‘We shouldn’t be burning our own neighborhoods, we should go and burn other neighborhoods.’ People take a comment (spoken) out of anger and make it into an official statement.”

Authorities have tried to dispel fears by noting that they are far better prepared for unrest than they were last spring. They are pinning their hopes on an early, heavy show of police force, and on plans to send teams of ex-gang members and community representatives into potential trouble spots.

Also, hot lines to deal with the rumors have been set up by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission and San Fernando Valley Councilwoman Joy Picus’ office. In addition, the Neighbor-to-Neighbor program run by the Los Angeles mayor’s office has been taking calls and trying to dispel rumors.

Charles Dickerson, chief deputy to South-Central Los Angeles Councilwoman Rita Walters, said the rumors of violence seem to be most intense in areas that were least affected by last year’s civil disorder. “It’s real unfortunate that people in the suburbs, who were not victims of that last riot or the riot of 1965, are raising these issues now,” he said.

“People who live in our community are just as concerned about safety in their homes and safety in their streets as are people in other portions of the city.”

Despite efforts of the LAPD’s top brass to squelch rumors, at least some appear to be fueled by police officers who pick up information from colleagues and sources on the street and discuss it with friends or associates.

A Pasadena resident, who asked not to be identified, said an LAPD acquaintance told her the “word on the street” was that gang members would lie low during an early high-profile police presence, but later move out to suburban communities.

Police appear to be exploring countless tidbits of raw intelligence about possible trouble. A recent internal LAPD intelligence report briefing cited information from one officer’s source that black gangs were planning to ambush officers and another tip about a man claiming to be teaching young boys in Army tactics for forays into Beverly Hills.

But city and law enforcement authorities insist that none of this has yet proved to be pointing toward truly threatening, organized plans for violence.

The LAPD’s Dunkin said he could not comment on what police officers may be privately telling relatives, neighbors and friends about rumors and self-protection. But he said he is urging calm among his circle of acquaintances.

“When my brother-in-law said he was going out and buying a shotgun I said, ‘Jack, don’t be ridiculous.’ ”

Times staff writers K. Connie Kang, Patrick J. McDonnell, Kenneth Reich, Vicki Torres and James Rainey contributed to this story. Special correspondents Scott Glover, Elston Carr, Mary Anne Perez and Gordon Dillow also contributed.

Riot Rumor Hot Lines

Officials have set up two hot lines for callers to check out rumors of possible civil unrest.

(800) 2-GOTALK--Sponsored by the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission.

(818) 345-1091--Staffed, as of Monday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until King trial verdicts are announced. Hours will extend to at least 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. after verdicts. Sponsored by Councilwoman Joy Picus.

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