Sixty years ago this week, a young Black man from South Los Angeles was pulled over by a white California Highway Patrol officer after another motorist reported the man driving recklessly.

What started as a routine traffic stop quickly escalated into violence and six days of civil unrest known as the Watts Riots – or, as many in the Black community prefer to call it, the Watts Rebellion or Watts Revolt.

FILE – In this Aug. 14, 1965 file photo, firefighters battle a blaze set in a shoe store that collapses in flames during rioting in the Watts district of Los Angeles. It began with a routine traffic stop 50 years ago this month, blossomed into a protest with the help of a rumor and escalated into the deadliest and most destructive riot Los Angeles had seen. The Watts riot broke out Aug.

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