An important precursor to the riots was a killing at Sleepy Lagoon less than a year earlier. On August 1, 1942, José Diaz was murdered near the lagoon, in what is now the city of Bell (no trace of the once-popular swimming hole remains today). Rather than launching a typical investigation, the LAPD indiscriminately rounded up more than 600 Latino youth (including the three pictured here) and indicted 22 alleged members of the 38th Street Gang. This event later became the subject of the play Zoot Suit, by Luis Valdez.

In the trial following the murder of José Diaz, Judge Charles Williams Fricke denied defense attorneys the opportunity to communicate with their clients while the court was in session and forbade the defendants from changing clothes or cutting their hair for the duration of the trial. He argued this would allow the jury to better understand their character. The mass trial, which “fostered an atmosphere of hate and prejudice towards the Mexican American community,” ended with 17 convictions, including three life sentences. These were eventually overturned after a citizen’s committee formed to appeal the convictions based on the blatantly biased courtroom proceedings.

Only a week prior to the outbreak of citywide rioting, a number of Mexican-Americans dancing at the Aragon Ballroom on the border of Santa Monica and Venice were attacked by a mob of American servicemen and bystanders after rumors spread that a sailor had been stabbed. An LAPD officer later said that “the only thing we could do to break it up was arrest the Mexican kids.”

On June 3, the riots began in earnest when around 50 armed servicemen left the Naval Reserve Armory in Chavez Ravine, now the LAFD Frank Hotchkin Memorial Training Center, and headed into the streets of Downtown Los Angeles to avenge the beating of Coleman.

Violence continued the nights of June 4 and 5, with confrontations between servicemen and zoot-suiters occurring all over the city. Some military personnel began targeting anyone who looked to be of Mexican descent. On June 5, a group of musicians from El Paso was assaulted as they exited the Aztec Recording Company located on Third and Main.

Servicemen were in many ways encouraged by local press. The Hearst-owned Herald and Express published inflammatory stories, including one that warned of 500 “zooters” planning to “kill every cop” they came across. The Los Angeles Times applauded rioters for teaching zoot suiters a “lesson.”

As rioting spread into predominantly black neighborhoods, some Latinos joined with black residents to mount a resistance, with hundreds gathering near the Coca Cola plant on Central Avenue. Years later, participant Rudy Lleyvas told an LA Times reporter: “Toward evening, we started hiding in alleys. Then we sent about 20 guys right out into the middle of the street as decoys... They started coming after the decoys, then we came out. They were surprised. It was the first time anybody was organized to fight back.”

On June 7, Vincente Morales and his girlfriend attended a show at the Orpheum Theatre. Sailors there dragged him out of the building, stripped him of his clothing, and beat him unconscious. When he came to, LAPD officers arrested him for disturbing the peace.

The riots finally began to subside after June 8, when military officials restricted servicemen from traveling into Los Angeles. The next day, the Los Angeles City Council responded by passing a resolution that banned the wearing of zoot suits on public streets.