During the LA riots media coverage outlets repeatedly showed images of Korean shopkeepers with guns on rooftops and Black residents looting stores, which made it seem like a direct ethnic clash rather than a broader uprising against systemic inequality. That framing flattened the bigger context of poverty, over-policing, and lack of investment, turning complex grievances into a more sensational, conflict-driven narrative. At the same time, the judicial system’s perceived inconsistencies, including harsh policing in Black neighborhoods, leniency in some cases involving non-Black perpetrators, and lack of accountability for police, fed a sense that justice was unevenly applied. This unevenness created fertile ground for resentment to be redirected laterally toward nearby communities, rather than upward toward institutions. . #rooftopkoreans #lariots