Question J

[Jonetta]

Irving used Edgar and Rider as props in the press conferences. Did you understand his position? Right or wrong thing to do?

[Charlene]

I guess all sides between police, city government, social and religious leaders, and the public do racial profiling -- whether consciously or not. So I understood the call for Edgar and Rider to appear. If it ultimately had the result of stopping a riot, it would be the expedient thing to do. I'm not sure how much of a factor it was here.

[Lauren]

Appearances are everything to Irving but he obviously thinks people are stupid if he thinks that this fooled anyone.

[Jonetta]

I agree, Lauren. People see right through that stuff.

[Jim]

Flawed as it is, having them there is probably better than the alternative -- from the standpoint of appearances, which Irving values. In the climate of the public's mistrust of the LAPD that pervaded at this time, a lot of this was just damage mitigation.

In some spots of this story, there really was no good move, just choices between bad and worse.