In May of 1992, Reverend Cecil L. Murray spoke out against the violent outbreaks that were occurring throughout Los Angeles as a result of the recent police brutality incident involving a 25 year old man named Rodney King. King was known to the public eye after the tape was released of him being beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a high speed chase. Four officers were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force, three were acquitted of all charges and the fourth officer was acquitted of assault with a deadly weapon but failed to reach a verdict on the use of excessive force. The 1992 Los Angeles riots started based on outrage about the verdicts by African Americans and other minority groups.…show more content… He does this by using the example of a bad shepherd and a good shepherd. He uses these methods to infer how the good shepherd in the bible stands as a symbol. This shows that Jesus “God” gives life and protects the world from destruction, avoids chaos and leads you to a good life while the bad shepherd uses violence and mistreatment to sentence you to death. He personifies sheep to prove his point that they are influenced by either good or bad shepherds. The good shepherds being those who peacefully protests and want justice and the bad shepherds are those using the riots as a way to act out violently and criminally. Murray’s sole purpose is to show how people are influenced by the actions of others. “We didn’t set all those fires. When the record is cleared, maybe it will show we didn’t set most of those fires. But we do have to confess that we set some of those fires” (398). With this being said the audience
Murray then shifts his views with a pathos approach in his speech “How could you treat us in the same category as your enemies? How could you treat your friends and enemies alike?” (399). This is in reference to Boys Market being burnt down. He felt there was no need for this to happen because the whole community shops there and it was a business owned by someone who lived in the same community. Murray used this approach to
