SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – The City of Los Angeles has experienced protests and unrest in years past. Notably, the 1992 riots garnered national attention following the acquittal of LAPD officers for the beating of Rodney King.
Some of the stories about what happened then are featured on the front page of a decades-old newspaper called The Scout.
"In 1992, I was a combat correspondent attached to the 3rd Battalion, First Marine Regiment,” Kelley Hughes said.
Hughes is a retired Master Sergeant with the United States Marine Corps.
"I documented what the Marines were doing in LA. I was in Compton with them, so I patrolled with them. You know, we were on the streets,” Hughes said.
She was at Camp Pendleton when troops there were sent to Los Angeles for the 1992 riots.
"When we traveled on the 5, the 5 was shut down, and so people were behind us, they were waving flags; 'We love Marines,' and it was a surreal feeling because we were on our own soil,” Hughes said.
She captured those surreal moments in articles and photos.
"They surprise me all the time because one minute... A corporal, who's all rough and tough, and then the next minute he's like, 'Hey, do you have a piece of candy? I'd like to give it to this kid,' you know, and, and they're just, you know, we're human beings," Hughes said.
While the protests are smaller and more concentrated, it seems history is repeating itself.
Seven hundred United States Marines from Twentynine Palms have been activated by President Donald Trump in response to the current protests in LA.
As of Wednesday afternoon, they haven’t been sent to Los Angeles, but Hughes trusts and believes in the training of Marines and also draws on her experience with the Defense Department's non-lethal weapons program.
"I would hope that we can, in the future, provide more non-lethal capabilities for our service men and women. At this time, however, uh, I do know this, that our Marines are very well trained and they will be exercising their expertise in courageous restraint,” Hughes said.
