April 29 marks the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots. Sparked after the acquittal of four Los Angeles policemen in the beating of a black motorist called Rodney King who was pulled over for speeding, when the incident was famously caught on video by an onlooker.

In south Los Angeles, a mostly black mob, enraged at the acquittal, dragged white truck driver Reginald Denny from his cab and beat him unconscious while news helicopters hovered overhead. What then followed was six days of fires and looting throughout the city that led to 53 deaths and an estimated $1 billion in property damage. The like of which had never been seen before.

This footage at the time of the riots, shows an emotional Rodney King pleading 'can't we just get along'?

Rodney King speaking 20 years later speaking at a book signing for his book 'The Riot Within', still has the same message today, why can't we just all get along?

Terry Ellis who filmed the riots explained just what he saw.

While Police Officer Gary Verge recalled LAPD underestimated how the situation would escalate.

Now 20 years later LAPD have learnt some tough lessons from these riots. Introducing open practices at all levels of policing.