Rodney King-era 'rooftop Korean' calls left-wing riots manufactured: 'looking for the next George Floyd'

A Los Angeles antheral who equipped himself and took to the streets successful 1992 to support a section concern during the tallness of the Rodney King unrest says today's rioters successful the metropolis are astroturfed for governmental purposes. 

Tony Moon, 53, is what is present known arsenic a "rooftop Korean." 

Thirty-three years ago, the Korean-American, past 19, was asked to articulation a spontaneous question alongside different Korean-Americans who armed themselves to support their lives and spot from being destroyed by convulsive rioters who were upset implicit the verdict successful a proceedings against officers who bushed Rodney King during a postulation stop. 

Tony Moon successful 1994. Two years earlier helium helped support a concern during the Rodney King riots. (Tony Moon)

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The officers were acquitted connected charges of battle and excessive force, plunging the metropolis into tumult arsenic rioters attempted to pain down Los Angeles, causing 63 deaths and much than 2,000 injuries, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Determined to support their livelihoods, "rooftop Koreans" took to the streets – and to the rooftops of their ain businesses – to deter rioters from causing occupation successful their neighborhoods. 

"When the riots occurred, it wasn't thing that anyone foresaw obviously, but we were good alert of Rodney King and the verdict that was coming down," Moon told Fox News Digital. "And erstwhile that occurred is erstwhile everything benignant of popped off. The crushed wherefore I went retired was due to the fact that a adjacent and bully person of mine, his older member had a stereo store that was connected the outskirts of adjacent Koreatown."

Tony Moon was a "rooftop Korean" during the Rodney King riots successful Los Angeles successful 1992.  (Tony Moon)

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During the attack, Radio Korea became a go-to root of accusation for the Korean-American communities, alerting them to imaginable threats. 

"He called maine Thursday evening aft the vigor announcement asking for volunteers to travel to the community, to support the community," Moon said. "And helium told maine that his brother's store mightiness beryllium threatened from the fires and the looting that was dilatory traveling up northbound from the south, similar South Central and South LA."

Moon described a tense atmosphere, which helium said had been gathering betwixt the Black and Korean communities successful the metropolis since the fatal shooting of a Black miss by a Korean store proprietor the twelvemonth prior. 

The civil unrest astatine that time, Moon said, was organic. 

A rioter waves a Mexican nationalist emblem adjacent to a car connected occurrence during a protestation pursuing national migration operations, successful the Compton vicinity of Los Angeles, California connected June 7, 2025. (Getty Images)

"The sentiment was overmuch antithetic past than it is now," helium said. "Now it's each manufactured. And not lone that, but there's nary existent grassroots enactment from immoderate of the communities. You know, it's what I would accidental [is] portion 2 of BLM/Antifa from 2020 that's being carried over."

"But it doesn't person the aforesaid traction and enactment that it did backmost successful 2020 with defunding the police, [and with] Black Lives Matter," helium continued. "I don't spot that, and what they're looking for is, they're looking for idiosyncratic to martyr. They're looking for a death. They're looking for the adjacent George Floyd."

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Riots broke retired successful U.S. cities aft George Floyd's decease successful Minnesota successful 2020. (Courtesy: Benjamin Crump via TMX.news)

Moon emphasized his enactment for peaceful protest, but said that erstwhile damaging property, vandalization and looting occur, those activities transverse the line. 

He besides advised Angelenos who consciousness unsafe owed to convulsive transgression to bash what helium and others successful the Korean-American assemblage did much than 3 decades ago: limb themselves. 

"If it's a riot oregon if there's immoderate benignant of mayhem, societal chaos going connected successful your neighborhood, put successful firearms," helium said. "I mean, enactment the Second Amendment. Buy a gun, bargain a rifle. I mean, the astir easiest limb to sprout is simply a shotgun. So put successful thing similar that and larn however to sprout it and beryllium proficient with it, truthful that mode it becomes portion of your defense, whether it's for your location oregon your business."

A protester waves the Mexican emblem amid clashes with instrumentality enforcement successful the streets surrounding the national gathering during a protestation pursuing national migration operations successful Los Angeles, California, connected June 8, 2025. Demonstrators torched cars and scuffled with information forces successful Los Angeles connected June 8, arsenic constabulary kept protesters distant from the National Guard troops President Donald Trump sent to the streets of the 2nd biggest US city. (RINGO CHIU/AFP via Getty Images)

Earlier this period riots plagued Los Angeles, a alleged sanctuary city, since a bid of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sweeps targeting transgression amerciable immigrants. 

Federal instrumentality enforcement and constabulary clashed with rioters successful the city's streets, portion those agitators burned cars, looted businesses, took implicit streets and graffitied buildings successful the bosom of downtown Los Angeles with anti-ICE and anti-Trump messaging. 

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The city's mayor, Karen Bass, has blamed President Donald Trump for causing the unrest by deploying National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to support national property, and Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the Trump medication for the move. 

The Trump medication ordered 2,000 much members of the National Guard to the metropolis past week, and ICE volition proceed conducting operations successful the city.