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Support your local PBS station.

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♪ ♪

00:00:23.999 --> 00:00:25.268
NARRATOR:
On a clear night
in August of 1942,

00:00:25.292 --> 00:00:28.975
a group of Mexican American
teenagers

00:00:28.999 --> 00:00:31.268
from L.A.'s 38th Street

00:00:31.292 --> 00:00:32.999
headed to a swimming hole
called Sleepy Lagoon.

00:00:34.542 --> 00:00:38.209
Riding in the car
was Hank Leyvas.

00:00:42.542 --> 00:00:44.143
Earlier that evening, Hank and
his girlfriend had been beaten

00:00:44.167 --> 00:00:47.083 position:20%
by Mexican American kids
from another neighborhood.

00:00:50.999 --> 00:00:52.709
Hank was determined to defend
his sweetheart's honor.

00:00:57.167 --> 00:01:00.894 line:20%
As they approached
Sleepy Lagoon,

00:01:00.918 --> 00:01:03.560 line:20%
the sounds of a party
filtered through the trees,

00:01:03.584 --> 00:01:06.852 line:20%
and Hank Leyvas thought
he had found

00:01:06.876 --> 00:01:08.727
the boys he was looking for.

00:01:08.751 --> 00:01:11.999
HADDA BROOKS (on recording):
♪ To spend one night with you ♪

00:01:14.876 --> 00:01:18.334 position:20%
♪ In our old rendezvous ♪

00:01:21.125 --> 00:01:24.834 position:20%
♪ To reminisce with you ♪

00:01:25.999 --> 00:01:29.417
♪ That's my desire ♪

00:01:30.792 --> 00:01:34.334
♪ To dance where gypsies play ♪

00:01:36.876 --> 00:01:40.101
(glass shattering)

00:01:40.125 --> 00:01:42.685
♪ And let our hearts
go astray ♪

00:01:42.709 --> 00:01:46.417
♪ Down in that dim café ♪
(men struggling)

00:01:48.626 --> 00:01:51.975
♪ That's my... ♪

00:01:51.999 --> 00:01:53.476
(record scratches)

00:01:53.500 --> 00:01:54.975
(skipping backward):
♪ Desire... desire... ♪

00:01:54.999 --> 00:01:57.226 line:20%
♪ desire... de... ♪

00:01:57.250 --> 00:01:59.143 line:20%
NARRATOR:
The ten-minute fight
at Sleepy Lagoon

00:01:59.167 --> 00:02:01.518 line:20%
had all the markings
of a typical teenage rumble--

00:02:01.542 --> 00:02:04.292
except for what neighbors
discovered later that night.

00:02:06.667 --> 00:02:09.918
♪ ♪

00:02:10.167 --> 00:02:13.894
In the light of the full moon,

00:02:13.918 --> 00:02:15.626
José Díaz, a 22-year-old
about to go off to war,

00:02:16.459 --> 00:02:19.792
lay dying.

00:02:21.417 --> 00:02:24.125
He had been beaten and stabbed.

00:02:26.999 --> 00:02:28.143 position:20%
EDWARD ESCOBAR:
During the summer of 1942,

00:02:28.167 --> 00:02:30.185
there had been growing concern

00:02:30.209 --> 00:02:33.125
about Mexican American
youth crime.

00:02:33.542 --> 00:02:37.185
When the Sleepy Lagoon case
broke--

00:02:37.209 --> 00:02:40.351
when José Díaz's body
was found--

00:02:40.375 --> 00:02:42.351
it came at exactly
the right moment

00:02:42.375 --> 00:02:44.975 position:20%
for the hysteria to erupt.

00:02:44.999 --> 00:02:47.768
NARRATOR:
In the 1940s,

00:02:47.792 --> 00:02:49.727
one Mexican American kid
killing another

00:02:49.751 --> 00:02:52.518
didn't attract much interest
from authorities.

00:02:52.542 --> 00:02:54.975
♪ ♪

00:02:54.999 --> 00:02:56.975 position:20%
But in wartime Los Angeles,

00:02:56.999 --> 00:02:58.626
José Díaz's murder
would play out differently.

00:02:59.834 --> 00:03:03.310
The police department stormed

00:03:03.334 --> 00:03:04.393
the city's Mexican American
community.

00:03:04.417 --> 00:03:07.999
Hank Leyvas was
the main suspect.

00:03:11.125 --> 00:03:13.975
The arrest and trial of Leyvas

00:03:13.999 --> 00:03:15.518
and others from the 38th Street
neighborhood

00:03:15.542 --> 00:03:17.975
raised fears that Mexican youth
were out of control.

00:03:17.999 --> 00:03:21.310
(chain rattling)

00:03:21.334 --> 00:03:24.059
Within months, the city
would be gripped

00:03:24.083 --> 00:03:25.792 position:20%
by brutal racial rioting.

00:03:28.459 --> 00:03:29.975
Mexican Americans would point
to the riots of 1943

00:03:29.999 --> 00:03:33.560
as the darkest days
of their long history

00:03:33.584 --> 00:03:36.476 position:20%
in the City of the Angels.

00:03:36.500 --> 00:03:38.959
♪ ♪

00:03:42.709 --> 00:03:43.626
(flames crackling)

00:03:47.876 --> 00:03:50.999
♪ ♪

00:03:56.167 --> 00:03:59.876 position:20%
NARRATOR:
In 1942, the mood in the City
of the Angels was eerie.

00:04:04.125 --> 00:04:06.876
The country was at war.

00:04:09.125 --> 00:04:10.417
On the streets, the talk was
of spies and traitors.

00:04:11.542 --> 00:04:15.542 position:20%
Suspicions swirled around
young Mexican Americans.

00:04:17.459 --> 00:04:21.602
Fears abounded that rebellious
kids were being manipulated

00:04:21.626 --> 00:04:24.999
by enemy agents.

00:04:26.751 --> 00:04:28.226
GEORGE SAÁNCHEZ:
In the local papers,
you saw often

00:04:28.250 --> 00:04:30.018 line:20%
columns right next
to each other:

00:04:30.042 --> 00:04:31.975 line:20%
Japan is doing this,
and our local threat

00:04:31.999 --> 00:04:33.999
is these Mexican American youth.

00:04:34.542 --> 00:04:37.792
♪ ♪

00:04:42.999 --> 00:04:44.542
(bell ringing slowly)

00:04:50.792 --> 00:04:52.727
NARRATOR:
Less than 100 years before,

00:04:52.751 --> 00:04:54.435
Los Angeles belonged to Mexico.

00:04:54.459 --> 00:04:57.975
Business was conducted
in Spanish

00:04:57.999 --> 00:05:01.918
and streets had names like
Eternidad and Chapule.

00:05:03.584 --> 00:05:07.059
(people talking in background)

00:05:07.083 --> 00:05:09.999
But by 1942,
Nuestra Señora de Los AÁngeles

00:05:10.209 --> 00:05:13.894 position:20%
was now simply Los Angeles.

00:05:13.918 --> 00:05:16.435
(car horns beeping)

00:05:16.459 --> 00:05:19.167 position:20%
And more than just the name
of the city had changed.

00:05:19.500 --> 00:05:22.975 position:20%
Chapule became Pearl Street

00:05:22.999 --> 00:05:25.959
and Eternidad
became Broadway.

00:05:31.792 --> 00:05:35.059
As Los Angeles grew,

00:05:35.083 --> 00:05:36.876
Mexican Americans came to be
viewed as foreigners

00:05:36.999 --> 00:05:40.918
in a city established
by their ancestors.

00:05:45.459 --> 00:05:48.685
♪ ♪

00:05:48.709 --> 00:05:52.185
Within 48 hours
of José Díaz's murder,

00:05:52.209 --> 00:05:55.083 position:20%
600 young Mexican Americans
were caught in a dragnet.

00:05:59.999 --> 00:06:01.351
LUPE LEYVAS:
They picked up everybody
that was over 12

00:06:01.375 --> 00:06:03.810
and up to 25.

00:06:03.834 --> 00:06:06.976
And you couldn't walk out
on the street,

00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.351
because they would take you.

00:06:09.375 --> 00:06:12.435
So the word went out
in the neighborhood,

00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:14.268
"They're picking up everybody.

00:06:14.292 --> 00:06:18.059 line:20%
And it's about a fight, andúit's about somebody got killed."

00:06:18.083 --> 00:06:20.975
Then the parents would go
to the other parent

00:06:20.999 --> 00:06:24.101
and tell them, "Look,
they're doing this and that.

00:06:24.125 --> 00:06:25.792
Keep the kids in the house."

00:06:27.417 --> 00:06:28.975
We were just peeking out
the windows,

00:06:28.999 --> 00:06:29.999
and police were all over
the streets.

00:06:33.999 --> 00:06:35.852 position:20%
ESCOBAR:
The police did regularly harass
Mexican kids on the street

00:06:35.876 --> 00:06:38.975
because they thought of them
as being the criminal element.

00:06:38.999 --> 00:06:42.101 position:20%
If the kid looked suspicious,
they would pick them up.

00:06:42.125 --> 00:06:46.268
If the kid looked sullen
or didn't give proper respect,

00:06:46.292 --> 00:06:49.727 line:20%
that kid could get beat up
by the police.

00:06:49.751 --> 00:06:53.018 line:20%
There, there are a number
of instances

00:06:53.042 --> 00:06:54.975 position:20% line:20%
in which Mexican kids said,

00:06:54.999 --> 00:06:56.226 position:20% line:20%
"You know, if you're
on the street after 8:00,

00:06:56.250 --> 00:06:58.310
"just be careful,
you got to...

00:06:58.334 --> 00:06:59.852
You got to get off
the streets."

00:06:59.876 --> 00:07:01.310
♪ ♪

00:07:01.334 --> 00:07:05.292
NARRATOR:
Hank Leyvas was no stranger
to the L.A.P.D.

00:07:06.834 --> 00:07:10.602
Leyvas was routinely picked up
by police

00:07:10.626 --> 00:07:13.602
when the suspect of a crime was
ambiguously described

00:07:13.626 --> 00:07:16.584
as an "unknown Mexican."

00:07:19.167 --> 00:07:20.852
EDUARDO PAGAÁN:
From the perspective
of the L.A.P.D.,

00:07:20.876 --> 00:07:22.876
Henry was a delinquent
with a chip on his shoulder--

00:07:22.999 --> 00:07:26.852 line:20%
largely because he was
the kind of kid

00:07:26.876 --> 00:07:28.268 line:20%
who would stand up
for his rights.

00:07:28.292 --> 00:07:29.476 line:20%
He would protest
assaults upon him.

00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:31.643 line:20%
He would protest if
he was arrested, for example.

00:07:31.667 --> 00:07:34.935
He would challenge them.

00:07:34.959 --> 00:07:35.975
♪ ♪

00:07:35.999 --> 00:07:38.975
NARRATOR:
By the summer of 1942,

00:07:38.999 --> 00:07:40.834
his life seemed headed
in a new direction.

00:07:43.542 --> 00:07:45.101
He had enlisted
in the Merchant Marine,

00:07:45.125 --> 00:07:47.417 position:20%
even been issued a uniform.

00:07:50.125 --> 00:07:52.000
But now he was a suspect
in the murder of José Díaz.

00:07:54.542 --> 00:07:57.975
As soon as we pulled up,

00:07:57.999 --> 00:08:00.560
my mother started to get
out of the car,

00:08:00.584 --> 00:08:01.810
and the police surrounded
the car, and they...

00:08:01.834 --> 00:08:05.125
And they arrested my brother.

00:08:06.999 --> 00:08:08.976
I asked them,
"Where are you taking him?"

00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.626
And they said,
"To the 77th Police Station."

00:08:17.709 --> 00:08:21.185
(children playing, dog barking)

00:08:21.209 --> 00:08:24.125
♪ ♪

00:08:29.417 --> 00:08:31.351 position:20%
NARRATOR:
Decades of discrimination

00:08:31.375 --> 00:08:33.250 position:20%
had forced the Mexican American
community to turn inward.

00:08:37.167 --> 00:08:39.209
By the 1940s,
L.A.'s 250,000 Mexican Americans

00:08:40.083 --> 00:08:43.976
lived in a series
of tight-knit neighborhoods

00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.476
called "barrios."

00:08:46.500 --> 00:08:49.935 position:20%
The communities were
traditional, conservative,

00:08:49.959 --> 00:08:52.999
and self-contained.

00:08:55.417 --> 00:08:57.042
But like many Mexican Americans
of his generation,

00:08:57.292 --> 00:09:01.435
Hank Leyvas refused to accept
the confines of the barrio.

00:09:01.459 --> 00:09:04.268 position:20%
(dog barking in distance)

00:09:04.292 --> 00:09:07.209
There was a different America
outside their neighborhood,

00:09:07.375 --> 00:09:10.975
and Hank and others like him

00:09:10.999 --> 00:09:12.393
wanted to claim a piece
for themselves.

00:09:12.417 --> 00:09:15.143
♪ ♪

00:09:15.167 --> 00:09:16.185
(car horns honking)

00:09:16.209 --> 00:09:17.560
SAÁNCHEZ:
The tensions that arose

00:09:17.584 --> 00:09:19.792
from this sort of splitting
of culture

00:09:19.999 --> 00:09:23.226
is that often,

00:09:23.250 --> 00:09:24.975
parents really saw their
children disappearing from them,

00:09:24.999 --> 00:09:28.268
from the sanctity of the barrio,
from the cultural world.

00:09:28.292 --> 00:09:31.810
Even though physically
they remained,

00:09:31.834 --> 00:09:33.975
they more often were the people

00:09:33.999 --> 00:09:36.459
that would venture into various
aspects of American culture.

00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:41.250
♪ ♪

00:09:44.542 --> 00:09:46.685
PAGAÁN:
These kids spoke to each other
in English.

00:09:46.709 --> 00:09:49.018
And it was an English that was
punctuated by jazz phrases--

00:09:49.042 --> 00:09:51.643 position:20%
"cool," "hip," "on time."

00:09:51.667 --> 00:09:54.975
All of these kinds of things

00:09:54.999 --> 00:09:56.975
that they very clearly drew
from jazz culture

00:09:56.999 --> 00:09:58.935
during this period.

00:09:58.959 --> 00:10:00.393
And some of the boys
from 38th Street will tell you,

00:10:00.417 --> 00:10:02.975
they didn't know Spanish
during this time.

00:10:02.999 --> 00:10:04.018 position:20%
They didn't speak Spanish.

00:10:04.042 --> 00:10:05.876
♪ ♪

00:10:11.584 --> 00:10:14.375
NARRATOR:
The wartime economy
put money in the kids' pockets.

00:10:17.834 --> 00:10:20.476
In 1942, they were spending it

00:10:20.500 --> 00:10:22.476
on big balloon pants
pegged at the ankle

00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:25.101
and long, baggy coats,

00:10:25.125 --> 00:10:27.209
a style borrowed
from African Americans.

00:10:30.375 --> 00:10:32.626
It was called the "zoot suit."

00:10:36.834 --> 00:10:37.685
The zoot suit was everywhere.

00:10:37.709 --> 00:10:40.602
In the night clubs,

00:10:40.626 --> 00:10:41.727
kids in zoot suits
ruled the dance floor,

00:10:41.751 --> 00:10:44.876 position:20%
their stoic moves
the essence of L.A. cool.

00:10:45.334 --> 00:10:49.542 position:20%
ARTHUR ARENAS:
All he'd do is get
the girl's arm like that,

00:10:49.999 --> 00:10:53.393 position:80% line:20%
and she'd go around him,

00:10:53.417 --> 00:10:55.268 line:20%
and he'd put his arm out
this way,

00:10:55.292 --> 00:10:57.935 position:80% line:20%
and then she'd go around
about three times,

00:10:57.959 --> 00:10:59.602
and he'd go like that,

00:10:59.626 --> 00:11:00.935 position:80%
because that guy was
not going to move.

00:11:00.959 --> 00:11:02.975
♪ ♪

00:11:02.999 --> 00:11:05.643
(chuckling):
He didn't want to wrinkle
the coat or nothing.

00:11:05.667 --> 00:11:09.143 position:80%
He didn't want to
mess up his pants!

00:11:09.167 --> 00:11:11.310
♪ ♪

00:11:11.334 --> 00:11:13.685
PAGAÁN:
As soon as they would get
out of the house,

00:11:13.709 --> 00:11:15.685
they would beeline straight down
to Central Avenue,

00:11:15.709 --> 00:11:18.935
where a lot of jazz clubs were.

00:11:18.959 --> 00:11:20.894 position:20%
And they would go there
to listen to jazz artists

00:11:20.918 --> 00:11:22.268
and to dance the swing,
and all of these things

00:11:22.292 --> 00:11:24.727
that their Mexican parents would
probably not have approved of.

00:11:24.751 --> 00:11:27.101
And, and they found ways
of sneaking around that,

00:11:27.125 --> 00:11:29.894
and, in fact, wearing
the zoot suit, I would say,

00:11:29.918 --> 00:11:31.626
was part of that.

00:11:33.876 --> 00:11:36.310
LUPE LEYVAS:
Many times, I wore my skirt
just above my knee

00:11:36.334 --> 00:11:39.810
till I got around the corner,

00:11:39.834 --> 00:11:40.999
and then I'd roll it up
at the waist.

00:11:41.876 --> 00:11:45.727
And so that it would be
really short, you know?

00:11:45.751 --> 00:11:47.792 position:20%
Then coming back from school,
we'd just pull them down.

00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:52.999
The boys wore their pants
very wide at the knee.

00:11:53.584 --> 00:11:57.393
They were always to be 40 inches
at the knees

00:11:57.417 --> 00:12:00.876
and ten to 11 inches
at, at the cuff,

00:12:01.999 --> 00:12:05.643
so they were very ballooned out,

00:12:05.667 --> 00:12:07.268
very high-waisted.

00:12:07.292 --> 00:12:09.975
♪ ♪

00:12:09.999 --> 00:12:12.310
NARRATOR:
Their outrageous clothes
and cocky attitudes

00:12:12.334 --> 00:12:15.476
shocked their
traditional parents,

00:12:15.500 --> 00:12:17.602
who feared their sons
and daughters

00:12:17.626 --> 00:12:19.876 position:20%
were becoming "pachucos."

00:12:21.959 --> 00:12:22.975
PAGAÁN:
In Los Angeles
in the early '40s,

00:12:22.999 --> 00:12:24.709
the word "pachuco" meant "punk."

00:12:25.083 --> 00:12:28.810
These were ill-mannered kids.

00:12:28.834 --> 00:12:30.852
These weren't the kids

00:12:30.876 --> 00:12:31.999
that you wanted your children
to hang out with.

00:12:33.999 --> 00:12:35.894
NARRATOR:
Many white Los Angelenos
felt threatened

00:12:35.918 --> 00:12:37.975
by their assertive presence.

00:12:37.999 --> 00:12:40.975
To them, any Mexican kid
in a zoot suit

00:12:40.999 --> 00:12:43.268
was a potential pachuco.

00:12:43.292 --> 00:12:46.975
PAGAÁN:
By wearing their zoot suits

00:12:46.999 --> 00:12:48.975
and swaggering down the streets
in public,

00:12:48.999 --> 00:12:51.000 position:20%
these kids defied
the norms of segregation.

00:12:51.918 --> 00:12:55.351
It's hard for us to imagine,

00:12:55.375 --> 00:12:57.935
but to go back in the context
of the 1940s,

00:12:57.959 --> 00:13:00.393
when everything around you
told you, "You're not one of us.

00:13:00.417 --> 00:13:03.810
"You're not American, and
because you're not American,

00:13:03.834 --> 00:13:05.975 position:20%
"because you're not white,

00:13:05.999 --> 00:13:07.185
"you're supposed to remain
in your neighborhoods.

00:13:07.209 --> 00:13:09.018 position:20%
"You can't go to our clubs,

00:13:09.042 --> 00:13:10.602
"you can't go
to our restaurants,

00:13:10.626 --> 00:13:11.975
you can't go to our movies,"
and on and on and on.

00:13:11.999 --> 00:13:14.768
And of course that's going to
breed some sort of resentment.

00:13:14.792 --> 00:13:17.894
(people talking in background)

00:13:17.918 --> 00:13:21.268
NARRATOR:
The tension on L.A.'s streets

00:13:21.292 --> 00:13:22.976
was heightened by the presence
of 50,000 sailors

00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:26.542
looking for a way to let off
steam before heading off to war.

00:13:31.876 --> 00:13:34.500
SAÁNCHEZ:
Tensions between servicemen and
Mexican American boys, I think,

00:13:34.999 --> 00:13:38.727
came from a lot
of different places.

00:13:38.751 --> 00:13:40.602
The first place to look

00:13:40.626 --> 00:13:41.975
is in terms of the servicemen's
own backgrounds.

00:13:41.999 --> 00:13:45.268 position:20%
A lot of these servicemen

00:13:45.292 --> 00:13:46.975
were coming from other parts
of the United States.

00:13:46.999 --> 00:13:49.476
They had, they were not familiar
with Mexican Americans.

00:13:49.500 --> 00:13:51.768
And they really
were not accustomed

00:13:51.792 --> 00:13:53.975
to not only the diversity
of Los Angeles,

00:13:53.999 --> 00:13:56.584
but the kind of interaction one
would see on the city streets.

00:13:57.751 --> 00:14:00.975
♪ ♪

00:14:00.999 --> 00:14:05.101
NARRATOR:
The charged atmosphere
sparked frequent street battles

00:14:05.125 --> 00:14:08.894
between sailors
from the Naval Armory

00:14:08.918 --> 00:14:10.852 position:20%
and Mexican American boys

00:14:10.876 --> 00:14:12.975
from the surrounding community
called Chavez Ravine.

00:14:12.999 --> 00:14:16.975
PAGAÁN:
Many of the Mexican American
kids during this period

00:14:16.999 --> 00:14:19.602
came to terms with segregation

00:14:19.626 --> 00:14:21.626
by seeing their neighborhoods
as their neighborhoods.

00:14:26.209 --> 00:14:28.018
They resented
the presence of whites,

00:14:28.042 --> 00:14:30.268
particularly,
if you can imagine

00:14:30.292 --> 00:14:32.268
white military personnel
during this period,

00:14:32.292 --> 00:14:34.143
pumped up by boot camp,
ready to go out

00:14:34.167 --> 00:14:37.999
and lick the Japs,
and lick the, the Nazis.

00:14:38.209 --> 00:14:41.435 line:20%
♪ ♪

00:14:41.459 --> 00:14:44.975 line:20%
NARRATOR:
The sailors making their way
back from a night on the town

00:14:44.999 --> 00:14:47.975
had no alternative

00:14:47.999 --> 00:14:49.417
but to cut through a mostly
Mexican American neighborhood.

00:14:53.083 --> 00:14:54.852
GEORGE BRAY:
Going down that canyon
from the armory,

00:14:54.876 --> 00:14:57.185
Mexican kids would sit up there
on the side of the hill

00:14:57.209 --> 00:15:00.059
as we were walking down
the, the road there.

00:15:00.083 --> 00:15:03.101
(chain rattling)

00:15:03.125 --> 00:15:04.975 line:20%
You never wanted to get caught
by yourself as a sailor

00:15:04.999 --> 00:15:08.101 line:20%
in, in that area,

00:15:08.125 --> 00:15:09.435 line:20%
by, by going through there
in one single file.

00:15:09.459 --> 00:15:12.310 line:20%
You're, you're asking
for trouble.

00:15:12.334 --> 00:15:13.975 line:20%
You're really asking
for trouble.

00:15:13.999 --> 00:15:15.852 line:20%
At the base,

00:15:15.876 --> 00:15:17.975 line:20%
they told us
to go down to the sail shop,

00:15:17.999 --> 00:15:21.999
and, and they sewed 13 pennies
in the back of our neckerchief,

00:15:23.209 --> 00:15:27.018
that if any of the pachucos
came after you,

00:15:27.042 --> 00:15:29.975
you'd take that neckerchief off
and use it as a billy club.

00:15:29.999 --> 00:15:32.894
13 pennies give you
quite a blow.

00:15:32.918 --> 00:15:35.500
And we all had that.

00:15:36.999 --> 00:15:38.894
NARRATOR:
Each fight provided an excuse
for the next.

00:15:38.918 --> 00:15:42.560
Sailors insulted
Mexican American teenagers,

00:15:42.584 --> 00:15:45.834
and they in turn
taunted the sailors.

00:15:46.167 --> 00:15:49.584
(sirens blaring)

00:15:51.000 --> 00:15:54.852
The police had
their own problems

00:15:54.876 --> 00:15:57.101 position:20%
with L.A.'s Mexican youth.

00:15:57.125 --> 00:15:58.975
ESCOBAR:
During the war years,
the L.A.P.D. felt frustrated.

00:15:58.999 --> 00:16:03.101
They were losing their best and
most experienced police officers

00:16:03.125 --> 00:16:06.602
to go off into the Army
and the Navy,

00:16:06.626 --> 00:16:09.018
into, into the service.

00:16:09.042 --> 00:16:10.727
And in addition to that,
they were faced

00:16:10.751 --> 00:16:13.834
with this new phenomenon
of the zoot suiters.

00:16:16.999 --> 00:16:19.685
You don't know how many times
you heard

00:16:19.709 --> 00:16:21.852
they were going to take
their kid gloves off

00:16:21.876 --> 00:16:23.727
and they were going to deal with
the zoot suiters harshly now--

00:16:23.751 --> 00:16:26.727
that they wanted
to really step forward

00:16:26.751 --> 00:16:29.975 position:20%
and deal with what they saw
as this criminal element

00:16:29.999 --> 00:16:32.975
in a very harsh manner.

00:16:32.999 --> 00:16:34.852
♪ ♪

00:16:34.876 --> 00:16:38.768
NARRATOR:
Inside the interrogation room
of the 77th Precinct,

00:16:38.792 --> 00:16:42.226
Hank Leyvas could not
have imagined

00:16:42.250 --> 00:16:44.560 position:20%
what was in store for him.

00:16:44.584 --> 00:16:47.727
The Sleepy Lagoon case

00:16:47.751 --> 00:16:49.751
was playing out
like a Hollywood movie.

00:16:50.792 --> 00:16:54.101
Hank was the villain.

00:16:54.125 --> 00:16:58.083
The ending to this story
would surprise everyone.

00:17:04.417 --> 00:17:07.667
♪ ♪

00:17:08.751 --> 00:17:12.918
The arrest of Leyvas and 21
other boys made front-page news.

00:17:18.584 --> 00:17:20.975
Hank and his friends did admit
to engaging in a fight,

00:17:20.999 --> 00:17:23.975
but they denied
killing José Díaz.

00:17:23.999 --> 00:17:26.975 position:20%
They stuck to their story

00:17:26.999 --> 00:17:29.975
despite tough treatment
by the police.

00:17:29.999 --> 00:17:33.667
HENRY YNOSTROZA:
They put gloves on so they won't
mark their hands up, you know?

00:17:34.959 --> 00:17:38.727 line:20%
@And just whip you, just hit you,
all over--

00:17:38.751 --> 00:17:40.976 line:20%
the body, the face
and everything;

00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:43.101 line:20%
and the leg,
kick you in the legs, yeah.

00:17:43.125 --> 00:17:45.975
And... they were trying
to get a confession.

00:17:45.999 --> 00:17:49.209
We got to the police station,
and I went up to the counter,

00:17:49.918 --> 00:17:53.768
and I asked if I... we could see
my brother Hank,

00:17:53.792 --> 00:17:57.351
that he had just been picked up,
and what could we do?

00:17:57.375 --> 00:18:00.542
And the officer said...

00:18:01.250 --> 00:18:04.975
He looked it up,
and he said,

00:18:04.999 --> 00:18:06.185
"Oh, yeah," he says,
"he's the leader."

00:18:06.209 --> 00:18:09.226
And I said,
"Well, I am not sure

00:18:09.250 --> 00:18:12.476
"that you got
the right person,

00:18:12.500 --> 00:18:13.975
if you're calling him a leader."

00:18:13.999 --> 00:18:15.435
He said,
"No, we know who you want."

00:18:15.459 --> 00:18:16.999
He says, "You want to see Hank."

00:18:18.999 --> 00:18:22.500
(voice breaking):
And, uh, they opened the door
and I saw my brother...

00:18:24.167 --> 00:18:27.518
(door slams)

00:18:27.542 --> 00:18:28.975
But I didn't even recognize him.

00:18:28.999 --> 00:18:31.975
They had him handcuffed.

00:18:31.999 --> 00:18:34.393
The hands were behind
the chairs.

00:18:34.417 --> 00:18:37.518
He had his head down, his lip
was hanging all below his...

00:18:37.542 --> 00:18:40.393
his chin.

00:18:40.417 --> 00:18:44.250
And I called to him,
but he didn't lift his head up.

00:18:46.250 --> 00:18:49.935
He just, he was knocked out.

00:18:49.959 --> 00:18:51.999
And he said,
"Well, now you've seen him."

00:18:52.999 --> 00:18:56.042
♪ ♪

00:19:02.792 --> 00:19:06.935
NARRATOR:
Hank claimed that one
of the cops who beat him

00:19:06.959 --> 00:19:09.768
was Chief Clem Peoples.

00:19:09.792 --> 00:19:12.935
The chief was
the lead investigator

00:19:12.959 --> 00:19:14.999 position:20%
on the Sleepy Lagoon case.

00:19:17.834 --> 00:19:18.209 line:20%
♪ ♪

00:19:20.417 --> 00:19:22.935
When the largest mass trial
in California history

00:19:22.959 --> 00:19:25.852 position:20%
began in October of 1942,

00:19:25.876 --> 00:19:28.810
Peoples was there,

00:19:28.834 --> 00:19:30.626
building a case against Hank
and the boys in the courtroom

00:19:31.125 --> 00:19:35.250
and writing articles about
Sleepy Lagoon in the pulp press.

00:19:40.417 --> 00:19:42.975
(birds chirping)

00:19:42.999 --> 00:19:44.435
Presiding over the case was
the Honorable Charles Fricke,

00:19:44.459 --> 00:19:47.959
a well-respected judge
known as a law-and-order man.

00:19:47.999 --> 00:19:52.417 position:20%
WILLIAM SHIBLEY:
Dad used to talk about Fricke
as a prosecutor's judge.

00:19:52.999 --> 00:19:56.768 line:20%
Judge Fricke,
according to my father,

00:19:56.792 --> 00:19:58.852 line:20%
@would take his prosecutors aside
over lunch hours

00:19:58.876 --> 00:20:01.959
and educate them
on how to introduce evidence.

00:20:02.709 --> 00:20:05.975
He prided himself

00:20:05.999 --> 00:20:07.685
in knowing criminal law
better than anybody.

00:20:07.709 --> 00:20:10.393
I think my father felt

00:20:10.417 --> 00:20:13.226
that he thought of himself
as infallible,

00:20:13.250 --> 00:20:15.768
and tended to look down
at counsel

00:20:15.792 --> 00:20:18.876 position:20%
and look down at people
that he didn't agree with.

00:20:22.709 --> 00:20:24.059
NARRATOR:
Overruling objections
from the defense,

00:20:24.083 --> 00:20:26.975
Judge Fricke sat all
the defendants together,

00:20:26.999 --> 00:20:29.876
isolating them
from their lawyers.

00:20:30.999 --> 00:20:34.393
Since their arrest,

00:20:34.417 --> 00:20:36.185
the defendants had not been
allowed to get haircuts

00:20:36.209 --> 00:20:38.560
or clean clothes.

00:20:38.584 --> 00:20:41.476 position:20%
Defense attorneys requested

00:20:41.500 --> 00:20:42.834
that the defendants be permitted
to clean up.

00:20:43.292 --> 00:20:46.935 position:20%
Their request was denied.

00:20:46.959 --> 00:20:49.894 position:20%
The judge ruled
that the boys' appearance

00:20:49.918 --> 00:20:51.768 position:20%
was relevant to the case.

00:20:51.792 --> 00:20:55.476 position:20%
LUPE LEYVAS:
"That's the way they are,

00:20:55.500 --> 00:20:56.975
that's the way they have
to be out here."

00:20:56.999 --> 00:20:58.975 line:20%
He said, "They wear long,
ducktail hair,

00:20:58.999 --> 00:21:02.226 line:20%
@and no, we're not allowing them
to take haircuts."

00:21:02.250 --> 00:21:04.810
So nothing was allowed,

00:21:04.834 --> 00:21:06.834
and, so naturally,
they looked really bad.

00:21:10.959 --> 00:21:12.167
ALICE GREENFIELD McGRATH:
The jury was looking
at the defendants,

00:21:13.250 --> 00:21:17.059
who sat in two rows of seats
opposite them,

00:21:17.083 --> 00:21:20.667 line:20%
and their dislikeúof the defendants was palpable.

00:21:21.751 --> 00:21:25.792
They did not like those people
they were looking at.

00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:30.976
NARRATOR:
"Hank and the other boys
look like vagabonds,"

00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:33.643
said one observer.

00:21:33.667 --> 00:21:36.810
LUPE LEYVAS (voice trembling):
They were no longer
those young men

00:21:36.834 --> 00:21:38.975
that took their pride
in their clothes.

00:21:38.999 --> 00:21:41.999
They didn't have that.

00:21:44.792 --> 00:21:48.999
NARRATOR:
Only Hank Leyvas grasped
the significance of the trial.

00:21:49.999 --> 00:21:53.685
His conviction
would send a message

00:21:53.709 --> 00:21:56.125 position:20%
that the city had Mexican
youth crime under control.

00:22:00.959 --> 00:22:02.810 position:20%
RUDY LEYVAS:
My brother Hank knew that
he was going to be the one

00:22:02.834 --> 00:22:05.935
that they were going
to zero in on.

00:22:05.959 --> 00:22:08.459 line:20%
He was very aware
of what was happening.

00:22:12.125 --> 00:22:13.602
McGRATH:
Hank was cast as the villain,

00:22:13.626 --> 00:22:17.250
because both in personality
and size,

00:22:18.417 --> 00:22:22.250
he was, like, larger
than, than the others.

00:22:26.999 --> 00:22:28.975
NARRATOR:
The prosecution painted a
picture of the 38th Street group

00:22:28.999 --> 00:22:32.209 position:20%
as ruthless killers,
with Hank as their leader.

00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:39.626
When the 38th Street kids
took the stand,

00:22:39.834 --> 00:22:43.292
they told a different story.

00:22:45.542 --> 00:22:47.975 line:20%
They said they were driving
around that night

00:22:47.999 --> 00:22:49.975 line:20%
looking for the boys who hadúattacked Hank and his girlfriend

00:22:49.999 --> 00:22:52.643 line:20%
earlier that evening.

00:22:52.667 --> 00:22:54.542 line:20%
HADDA BROOKS (on recording):ú♪ To dance where gypsies play ♪

00:22:56.167 --> 00:22:59.894
(car doors opening and shutting)

00:22:59.918 --> 00:23:00.999
♪ And let our hearts both sway ♪

00:23:02.000 --> 00:23:05.727
♪ Down in that dim cafe... ♪

00:23:05.751 --> 00:23:09.560
NARRATOR:
As they approached the party,

00:23:09.584 --> 00:23:11.667
two of the girls found José Díaz
lying in the shadows.

00:23:12.999 --> 00:23:16.685
He had been beaten and stabbed.

00:23:16.709 --> 00:23:20.268
PAGAÁN:
Blood is streaming down
from both sides of his face.

00:23:20.292 --> 00:23:22.935 line:20%
There's blood coming
also out of his, his mouth.

00:23:22.959 --> 00:23:25.975 line:20%
He's breathing quite,
quite shallow.

00:23:25.999 --> 00:23:28.685
And this is when they find him,

00:23:28.709 --> 00:23:30.000
already unconscious,
before the fight breaks out.

00:23:31.999 --> 00:23:35.894
NARRATOR:
As the girls attended to José,

00:23:35.918 --> 00:23:37.999
Hank and his friends
went on the attack.

00:23:39.125 --> 00:23:42.518
(glass shatters)

00:23:42.542 --> 00:23:45.018
♪ ♪

00:23:45.042 --> 00:23:47.334
(lightbulb shattering)

00:23:49.626 --> 00:23:52.268
(glass breaking)

00:23:52.292 --> 00:23:53.226
When the brief fight broke up,

00:23:53.250 --> 00:23:54.459
the girls helping José
were pulled away.

00:23:55.125 --> 00:23:59.209 position:20%
One of the boys spotted Díaz
on the ground and hit him.

00:23:59.999 --> 00:24:04.101
The defendants admitted that one
of their group had struck Díaz,

00:24:04.125 --> 00:24:07.999
but under oath, they denied any
responsibility for his death.

00:24:10.083 --> 00:24:13.999 position:20%
BROOKS:
♪ Darling, I love you so ♪

00:24:15.667 --> 00:24:19.000
♪ That's my desire ♪

00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.268
NARRATOR:
Though never charged in
connection with the murder,

00:24:24.292 --> 00:24:26.476
the girls from 38th Street
were portrayed in the press

00:24:26.500 --> 00:24:29.602
as every bit as dangerous
as the boys.

00:24:29.626 --> 00:24:33.185
ELIZABETH ESCOBEDO:
It was plastered
all over the papers

00:24:33.209 --> 00:24:36.018 line:20%
that girls took part
in this murderous foray

00:24:36.042 --> 00:24:39.351 line:20%
the night that José Díaz
was killed.

00:24:39.375 --> 00:24:41.143 line:20%
And that was a huge part
of the story,

00:24:41.167 --> 00:24:43.894 line:20%
that women were actually onúthe streets fighting with boys.

00:24:43.918 --> 00:24:47.999
NARRATOR:
Eight girls were called
to testify by the prosecution.

00:24:49.125 --> 00:24:53.000 position:20%
One after another,
they refused to cooperate.

00:24:53.959 --> 00:24:57.459
One of them was Lorena Encinas.

00:25:01.834 --> 00:25:04.268
She knew who killed José Díaz,

00:25:04.292 --> 00:25:06.959
but she would not reveal
her secret.

00:25:14.334 --> 00:25:18.059
The trial dragged on
for three months.

00:25:18.083 --> 00:25:21.876
Hank Leyvas's mother remained
hopeful throughout the process.

00:25:22.125 --> 00:25:26.667
LUPE LEYVAS:
My mother always thought that
because her son was not guilty,

00:25:27.999 --> 00:25:31.602
that no matter what they do,

00:25:31.626 --> 00:25:32.975
at the end, they're going
to be released,

00:25:32.999 --> 00:25:34.935
because they didn't have
anything to do with the killing.

00:25:34.959 --> 00:25:37.976
♪ ♪

00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.584
NARRATOR:
On January 12, 1943,
the jury announced its verdict.

00:25:45.667 --> 00:25:47.000
McGRATH:
When the jury came in
and the verdict was read...

00:25:47.167 --> 00:25:50.727
(gavel banging echoes)

00:25:50.751 --> 00:25:52.268
The expression on the faces
of the defendants

00:25:52.292 --> 00:25:55.667
were of horror.

00:25:57.999 --> 00:26:01.143
♪ ♪

00:26:01.167 --> 00:26:05.435
LUPE LEYVAS:
The mothers were all huddled
together there,

00:26:05.459 --> 00:26:07.894 position:20%
and I was there with them.

00:26:07.918 --> 00:26:10.310
Most of them
didn't speak English.

00:26:10.334 --> 00:26:12.667
There was, I think,
only two that spoke English.

00:26:12.918 --> 00:26:16.834
So we were quickly trying
to translate to them

00:26:17.417 --> 00:26:20.918
what had happened.

00:26:22.918 --> 00:26:25.125
NARRATOR:
17 defendants were found guilty.

00:26:25.709 --> 00:26:29.351
Hank Leyvas was sentenced
to life.

00:26:29.375 --> 00:26:32.999
RUDY LEYVAS:
Hank had kind of expected
that they would be found guilty.

00:26:35.626 --> 00:26:39.018 position:20%
And he picked his head up,

00:26:39.042 --> 00:26:40.975
where a lot of them just dropped
their head down

00:26:40.999 --> 00:26:43.143
and, and looking to the,
to the floor.

00:26:43.167 --> 00:26:46.000
But he just picked his head up,
like he knew this was coming.

00:26:47.209 --> 00:26:51.167
My brother Hank knew
it was going to come, yeah.

00:26:51.751 --> 00:26:54.975
♪ ♪

00:26:54.999 --> 00:26:57.310
YNOSTROZA:
Some of the guys were in tears,
you know.

00:26:57.334 --> 00:27:00.059
And me and Hank Leyvas
would tell them,

00:27:00.083 --> 00:27:01.894
"Buckle up, you suckers,
you men.

00:27:01.918 --> 00:27:04.226
Be a man, stop crying,"
you know.

00:27:04.250 --> 00:27:06.768
(chuckles)

00:27:06.792 --> 00:27:07.976
And we were hurting, too,
you know,

00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.685
but we weren't
trying to show it.

00:27:09.709 --> 00:27:10.975
We were trying to be machos,
you know, and all that,

00:27:10.999 --> 00:27:12.685
but a lot of guys were crying.

00:27:12.709 --> 00:27:15.542 line:20%
♪ ♪

00:27:16.167 --> 00:27:20.226 line:20%
NARRATOR:
The boys were sent
to San Quentin prison,

00:27:20.250 --> 00:27:23.518
400 miles from home.

00:27:23.542 --> 00:27:27.059
They weren't the only ones
who would do time.

00:27:27.083 --> 00:27:30.602
The girls from 38th Street
were taken from their families

00:27:30.626 --> 00:27:33.975
and made wards of the state.

00:27:33.999 --> 00:27:36.999
In a legal process that provided
neither jury nor trial,

00:27:37.334 --> 00:27:41.334
they were sent away
to an infamous reform school.

00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:45.226
♪ ♪

00:27:45.250 --> 00:27:46.975
ESCOBEDO:
The Ventura School for Girls
at this time

00:27:46.999 --> 00:27:50.292
is really a very
repressive institution--

00:27:52.876 --> 00:27:56.185
one that's custodial,

00:27:56.209 --> 00:27:57.975
and disciplinary procedures
completely rival

00:27:57.999 --> 00:28:01.101
the state prisons of the time.

00:28:01.125 --> 00:28:04.975
Young women would go
to very drastic measures

00:28:04.999 --> 00:28:06.975
in order to escape going
to the Ventura School for Girls

00:28:06.999 --> 00:28:09.975
because of its bad reputation.

00:28:09.999 --> 00:28:12.393
There were women
at the juvenile hall

00:28:12.417 --> 00:28:15.894 position:20%
who knew that they were going
to be ultimately sentenced

00:28:15.918 --> 00:28:18.975
to the Ventura School,

00:28:18.999 --> 00:28:20.185
and they were swallowing
safety pins the night before

00:28:20.209 --> 00:28:23.542 position:20%
in order to get out of it.

00:28:25.959 --> 00:28:27.975 position:20%
NARRATOR:
With the secret she held,

00:28:27.999 --> 00:28:29.709
Lorena Encinas
could have made a deal.

00:28:30.626 --> 00:28:33.999
But she refused.

00:28:38.334 --> 00:28:39.476
THEODORE ENCINAS:
My mother's reason
for being there

00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.975 line:20%
was for the mere reason

00:28:42.999 --> 00:28:44.975 line:20%
that she failed to cooperate
with the courts

00:28:44.999 --> 00:28:46.268 position:20% line:20%
and divulge the information
that they wanted her to,

00:28:46.292 --> 00:28:49.852
to name all the names
of the people involved.

00:28:49.876 --> 00:28:52.250
♪ ♪

00:28:53.125 --> 00:28:57.226
NARRATOR:
During all the time she served
at Ventura,

00:28:57.250 --> 00:29:00.999
Lorena kept details about
José Díaz's murder to herself.

00:29:08.918 --> 00:29:11.975
♪ ♪

00:29:11.999 --> 00:29:15.018
While the 38th Street boys
did time in San Quentin,

00:29:15.042 --> 00:29:18.292
prominent Los Angelenos were
working to get them released.

00:29:23.250 --> 00:29:24.310
Believing the boys had been
railroaded,

00:29:24.334 --> 00:29:26.894 position:20%
Communists, intellectuals,
and Hollywood celebrities,

00:29:26.918 --> 00:29:29.685
like Orson Welles
and Rita Hayworth,

00:29:29.709 --> 00:29:32.976
lent their names

00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:34.709
to the newly formed
Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee.

00:29:37.876 --> 00:29:39.560
I went to
the Beverly Hills Hotel.

00:29:39.584 --> 00:29:41.975
They said I had to go speak.

00:29:41.999 --> 00:29:44.268
She says, "Bring...

00:29:44.292 --> 00:29:45.935
Bring some clothes,
we'll pick you up."

00:29:45.959 --> 00:29:48.310 position:20%
Well, I went as I dressed,

00:29:48.334 --> 00:29:51.999
with my knee-high white socks
and my very short black skirt.

00:29:57.209 --> 00:29:58.435 position:20%
They picked me up and we went
to Rita Hayworth's house.

00:29:58.459 --> 00:30:02.101
And Rita Hayworth said, "No, no,
no, you can't wear that.

00:30:02.125 --> 00:30:05.435
You can get one of my dresses."

00:30:05.459 --> 00:30:08.999
And my first formal belonged
to Rita Hayworth.

00:30:09.334 --> 00:30:12.584
♪ ♪

00:30:17.751 --> 00:30:18.918
NARRATOR:
Political activists also joined
the cause.

00:30:19.167 --> 00:30:22.975
McGRATH:
We had professional people,

00:30:22.999 --> 00:30:25.975
we had educators,

00:30:25.999 --> 00:30:28.334
we had, um, we had congressmen,

00:30:29.209 --> 00:30:32.959
we had a lot of union people.

00:30:33.999 --> 00:30:37.059
♪ ♪

00:30:37.083 --> 00:30:38.727 position:20%
NARRATOR:
The committee's efforts
to portray the defendants

00:30:38.751 --> 00:30:41.018
as innocent victims

00:30:41.042 --> 00:30:42.226
paid off.

00:30:42.250 --> 00:30:44.042 position:20%
Money to fund an appeal came in
from across the country.

00:30:44.250 --> 00:30:48.185 position:20%
Prominent members of the
committee visited the boys

00:30:48.209 --> 00:30:51.935
to reassure them
they would not be forgotten.

00:30:51.959 --> 00:30:55.268
YNOSTROZA:
And Anthony Quinn told us,
"Don't worry.

00:30:55.292 --> 00:30:57.975
"We're going to beat this
on appeal, yeah.

00:30:57.999 --> 00:31:00.685
You were railroaded."

00:31:00.709 --> 00:31:02.727
And he says,
"I'm behind you guys."

00:31:02.751 --> 00:31:04.351
♪ ♪

00:31:04.375 --> 00:31:08.459
NARRATOR:
In the months following the
trial, the city grew more tense.

00:31:09.584 --> 00:31:13.518
Skirmishes between sailors
and zoot-suiters became

00:31:13.542 --> 00:31:16.643
a daily occurrence.

00:31:16.667 --> 00:31:19.435
MARIETTA LEE:
The pachucos would intimidate
people.

00:31:19.459 --> 00:31:22.292
They would walk down the street,
five abreast,

00:31:22.667 --> 00:31:26.143
and if you walked around them,

00:31:26.167 --> 00:31:27.959
they would laugh or stick
their hand out and hit you.

00:31:28.918 --> 00:31:32.975 position:20% line:20%
@After a while, you got so you'd
go down the side streets

00:31:32.999 --> 00:31:36.018 line:20%
instead of confronting them.

00:31:36.042 --> 00:31:38.894
A lot of them were from Mexico.

00:31:38.918 --> 00:31:41.685 position:20%
They didn't speak English.

00:31:41.709 --> 00:31:43.393
They didn't adhere to our laws.

00:31:43.417 --> 00:31:45.918
They weren't even geared up
for the war effort.

00:31:49.751 --> 00:31:51.975
NARRATOR:
On June 3, 1943,

00:31:51.999 --> 00:31:53.975
the city exploded.

00:31:53.999 --> 00:31:56.435
PAGAÁN:
As a group of service personnel

00:31:56.459 --> 00:31:58.393 position:20%
were passing
a group of civilian youth,

00:31:58.417 --> 00:32:00.643
one young man raised his hand
in a manner

00:32:00.667 --> 00:32:03.643
that one of the sailors thought
was threatening.

00:32:03.667 --> 00:32:05.975
(men squabbling)

00:32:05.999 --> 00:32:08.101
One of the sailors turned around

00:32:08.125 --> 00:32:09.975
and grabbed the arm
of a young civilian,

00:32:09.999 --> 00:32:11.810 position:20%
and from that point,
this, the fight broke out.

00:32:11.834 --> 00:32:14.018 position:20%
It seemed that both sides were
primed for confrontation,

00:32:14.042 --> 00:32:17.209
and the street seemed to explode
in a fight.

00:32:17.417 --> 00:32:21.292
In the process, the sailor had
his jaw broken,

00:32:21.626 --> 00:32:25.059 position:20%
he was knocked unconscious,

00:32:25.083 --> 00:32:26.935 position:20%
and his buddies were, had
to drag him back to, uh,

00:32:26.959 --> 00:32:29.976
to the armory.

00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:31.560
(chains rattling)

00:32:31.584 --> 00:32:33.685
NARRATOR:
Later that night,

00:32:33.709 --> 00:32:35.059 position:20%
a group of sailors
armed with belts and clubs

00:32:35.083 --> 00:32:37.999
left the Naval Armory
and headed downtown.

00:32:38.667 --> 00:32:42.167
The Zoot Suit Riots had begun.

00:32:43.292 --> 00:32:47.185
BRAY:
We had a, uh,
a commanding officer.

00:32:47.209 --> 00:32:49.975 line:20%
And he told the guys,
he said, "Okay, men."

00:32:49.999 --> 00:32:51.935 line:20%
He said, "We've had it."

00:32:51.959 --> 00:32:52.935 line:20%
So he went, the guys
from the armory,

00:32:52.959 --> 00:32:55.975 position:20%
they got out the gun belts

00:32:55.999 --> 00:32:57.518
and wrapped them around their,
their hands,

00:32:57.542 --> 00:33:00.101
and down they went,
cleaned up town.

00:33:00.125 --> 00:33:02.310 line:20%
I was in the theater downtown,

00:33:02.334 --> 00:33:04.602 line:20%
and watching a movie.

00:33:04.626 --> 00:33:08.435
All of a sudden,
the lights went on,

00:33:08.459 --> 00:33:10.894
and you hear a lot of noise,
commotion.

00:33:10.918 --> 00:33:13.059
A lot of, a lot of guys yelling
or something.

00:33:13.083 --> 00:33:16.602
Now, you turn around,

00:33:16.626 --> 00:33:17.810
and you see these servicemen

00:33:17.834 --> 00:33:19.459 position:20%
beating the heck
out of all these Mexicans.

00:33:22.999 --> 00:33:27.310 position:20%
GLORIA RIOS BERLIN:
And there was a fight
not just with fisticuffs,

00:33:27.334 --> 00:33:30.018
but some of them had chains.

00:33:30.042 --> 00:33:32.226 line:20%
So what I did is,
I dived underneath the counter

00:33:32.250 --> 00:33:35.435 line:20%
and stayed there and,
you know,

00:33:35.459 --> 00:33:37.975
protected myself,
because it became very wild.

00:33:37.999 --> 00:33:40.935
It was like a movie set.

00:33:40.959 --> 00:33:41.975
♪ ♪

00:33:41.999 --> 00:33:44.125
NARRATOR:
Among the victims in the theater
were 12- and 13-year-old boys,

00:33:44.999 --> 00:33:48.602
beaten by American servicemen

00:33:48.626 --> 00:33:51.250
because of the clothes
they wore.

00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:55.143
I know a lot of them
came back happy,

00:33:55.167 --> 00:33:57.226
a lot of the guys,
the Americans--

00:33:57.250 --> 00:33:58.768
they came back happy.

00:33:58.792 --> 00:33:59.852 line:20%
(chains rattling)

00:33:59.876 --> 00:34:03.185 line:20%
NARRATOR:
The following night,

00:34:03.209 --> 00:34:04.975 position:20% line:20%
hundreds of sailors took
the fight beyond downtown

00:34:04.999 --> 00:34:07.999 line:20%
and into the heart of L.A.'s
oldest Mexican neighborhood.

00:34:09.042 --> 00:34:12.976
SAÁNCHEZ:
The servicemen would cross
the river

00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:15.810
and head into communities
like Boyle Heights,

00:34:15.834 --> 00:34:17.685
and then other parts
of East Los Angeles,

00:34:17.709 --> 00:34:20.518
to seek out
Mexican American youth

00:34:20.542 --> 00:34:22.143
that were no longer ending up
in downtown Los Angeles

00:34:22.167 --> 00:34:25.018 position:20%
at theaters and, and bars.

00:34:25.042 --> 00:34:26.975 line:20%
So as the riot
played itself out,

00:34:26.999 --> 00:34:29.975 line:20%
there had to be a lot more
sort of search and destroy--

00:34:29.999 --> 00:34:32.852 position:20%
to use a military metaphor.

00:34:32.876 --> 00:34:34.975
And that's where you get

00:34:34.999 --> 00:34:36.999
the real movement
into East Los Angeles.

00:34:40.209 --> 00:34:42.101
NARRATOR:
Once in the barrio, sailors
broadened their attack

00:34:42.125 --> 00:34:44.975
beyond Mexican boys
in zoot suits.

00:34:44.999 --> 00:34:48.626
Any Mexican in their path
was a potential target.

00:34:52.667 --> 00:34:55.975 position:20%
SAÁNCHEZ:
The way the riots develop

00:34:55.999 --> 00:34:57.959
is very much attached to what
the notion of a zoot suiter was.

00:34:59.209 --> 00:35:03.143
The notion of a zoot suiter
was always racialized,

00:35:03.167 --> 00:35:06.727
even though Mexicans were not

00:35:06.751 --> 00:35:07.975
the only people
wearing zoot suits.

00:35:07.999 --> 00:35:10.018
So a riot that first was aiming
at individuals

00:35:10.042 --> 00:35:13.685
because of their dress

00:35:13.709 --> 00:35:14.685
becomes a more expansive
sort of riot

00:35:14.709 --> 00:35:17.975
aimed at a particular
racial population:

00:35:17.999 --> 00:35:20.351
Mexican Americans.

00:35:20.375 --> 00:35:21.918
(crowd clamoring)

00:35:23.209 --> 00:35:26.459
♪ ♪

00:35:29.999 --> 00:35:32.250
NARRATOR:
It didn't take long for the kids
from the barrios to organize

00:35:32.999 --> 00:35:36.268
and fight back.

00:35:36.292 --> 00:35:37.975
RUDY LEYVAS:
There was an alley
behind this theater

00:35:37.999 --> 00:35:40.226 position:20%
and a lot right next to it.

00:35:40.250 --> 00:35:42.560
And it was just jammed.

00:35:42.584 --> 00:35:44.894
So we was waiting,
it was already getting dark.

00:35:44.918 --> 00:35:47.667
So then about 20, 20 or 30 guys
come out in the street,

00:35:48.584 --> 00:35:52.560
so that when the sailors come,
they could see them.

00:35:52.584 --> 00:35:55.268
And as soon as they went
out there,

00:35:55.292 --> 00:35:56.975
here comes those truckloads--

00:35:56.999 --> 00:35:58.852
truckloads of sailors
and civilians.

00:35:58.876 --> 00:36:01.768 position:20%
And they let out a cry, "There
they are, there they are!"

00:36:01.792 --> 00:36:04.975
And they came in.

00:36:04.999 --> 00:36:06.810
Well, as they came in,

00:36:06.834 --> 00:36:08.602
once they got all the way in,
we all came out.

00:36:08.626 --> 00:36:11.393
(people shouting)

00:36:11.417 --> 00:36:12.876
I myself had a bat
and I used it.

00:36:13.542 --> 00:36:17.292
And there was people hurt
on both sides.

00:36:18.999 --> 00:36:22.975
SANETTI:
We were fisticuffing,
and, you know,

00:36:22.999 --> 00:36:24.810 line:20%
and kicking and biting
and scratching.

00:36:24.834 --> 00:36:27.727 line:20%
And I got a couple of
good blows, knocked me down.

00:36:27.751 --> 00:36:30.768
They took me back to the base

00:36:30.792 --> 00:36:31.975
and put me in sick bay
overnight.

00:36:31.999 --> 00:36:34.310
And the next morning, I went
back to doing my normal duties.

00:36:34.334 --> 00:36:37.185 position:20%
But I had two good shiners.

00:36:37.209 --> 00:36:39.059 line:20%
At nighttime they came.

00:36:39.083 --> 00:36:40.143 line:20%
At nighttime, right?

00:36:40.167 --> 00:36:41.185 line:20%
At nighttime they came.

00:36:41.209 --> 00:36:42.727 line:20%
So we just disappear, right?

00:36:42.751 --> 00:36:44.643
Disappear.

00:36:44.667 --> 00:36:45.894
But then we found out

00:36:45.918 --> 00:36:47.185
that the best thing to do
to get even with them

00:36:47.209 --> 00:36:50.894
is watch them
on Whittier Boulevard,

00:36:50.918 --> 00:36:53.584
and when there was four
or five guys riding in a car,

00:36:56.042 --> 00:36:59.602
and we would follow them

00:36:59.626 --> 00:37:00.975
until they had to come
to the boulevard, stop,

00:37:00.999 --> 00:37:02.810
and there'd be another car
in front of them.

00:37:02.834 --> 00:37:04.435
We'd run out there,
open one door,

00:37:04.459 --> 00:37:07.018 position:20%
and start pounding the hell
out of the driver's door

00:37:07.042 --> 00:37:09.185
and get, get him out.

00:37:09.209 --> 00:37:11.476
And then beat the hell
out of the other guys, right?

00:37:11.500 --> 00:37:12.976
(people talking in background)

00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:16.226
NARRATOR:
On the fifth day of the riots,

00:37:16.250 --> 00:37:18.417
5,000 civilians showed up
to assist the sailors.

00:37:19.959 --> 00:37:23.768
LEE:
My brother was only
14 years old.

00:37:23.792 --> 00:37:26.292
I was 16 at the time,
but I did drive.

00:37:26.876 --> 00:37:30.310 position:20%
And we got my mother's car,

00:37:30.334 --> 00:37:32.876
and we went to El Toro
and picked up Marines.

00:37:37.375 --> 00:37:39.185
Los Angeles was like a war zone

00:37:39.209 --> 00:37:41.101
and we had to do something
about it.

00:37:41.125 --> 00:37:43.999
The pachucos had just
taken over.

00:37:45.834 --> 00:37:49.810
I felt that I was doing my share
for the war effort.

00:37:49.834 --> 00:37:52.975
(chains rattling)

00:37:52.999 --> 00:37:54.959
NARRATOR:
The kids fighting the sailors
were not entirely on their own.

00:37:59.584 --> 00:38:01.727
RUDY LEYVAS:
There's this man I never knew,
I never seen him before.

00:38:01.751 --> 00:38:04.125 position:20%
And he says, "Are you guys
coming to fight sailors?"

00:38:04.876 --> 00:38:08.143
And I says, "Yeah."

00:38:08.167 --> 00:38:09.602
He said, "I have a car here,
it's full of gas."

00:38:09.626 --> 00:38:12.975
And at that time,
the gas was rationed.

00:38:12.999 --> 00:38:14.975 line:20%
"Take it, use it.

00:38:14.999 --> 00:38:17.226 position:20% line:20%
"When you get through,
just leave the keys in it.

00:38:17.250 --> 00:38:19.975
Put it anyplace on Central
Avenue and I'll pick it up."

00:38:19.999 --> 00:38:23.727
And he says,
"All I want you to do

00:38:23.751 --> 00:38:26.459
is get one of them white guys
for me."

00:38:29.999 --> 00:38:32.975
NARRATOR:
By week's end,

00:38:32.999 --> 00:38:34.626
the Zoot Suit Riots were making
headlines across the country.

00:38:34.999 --> 00:38:38.185
♪ ♪

00:38:38.209 --> 00:38:41.602
Thousands of Marines,
soldiers, and sailors

00:38:41.626 --> 00:38:44.393
from as far away as Las Vegas

00:38:44.417 --> 00:38:46.310
arrived in
the City of the Angels,

00:38:46.334 --> 00:38:48.834
pitching to clean up the town.

00:38:51.999 --> 00:38:53.459
Mexican American kids
were overwhelmed.

00:38:56.834 --> 00:38:58.435
In a ritual repeated
across the city,

00:38:58.459 --> 00:39:00.975
servicemen stripped them
of their clothes

00:39:00.999 --> 00:39:04.018
and burnt the garments
on the streets.

00:39:04.042 --> 00:39:06.999
(people shouting)

00:39:07.959 --> 00:39:12.125
PAGAÁN:
The L.A.P.D. hangs back during
this entire confrontation--

00:39:12.999 --> 00:39:16.518 position:20%
about a week of rioting--

00:39:16.542 --> 00:39:18.334
never taking the offensive
in trying to stop the riot,

00:39:18.876 --> 00:39:22.143
and only showing up

00:39:22.167 --> 00:39:24.059 line:20%
after the rioting servicemen
have swept through an area.

00:39:24.083 --> 00:39:26.185
And they show up only to arrest
the victims of riot

00:39:26.209 --> 00:39:29.959 position:20%
and throw them into jail.

00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:35.727
♪ ♪

00:39:35.751 --> 00:39:38.685
SANETTI:
The shore patrol would naturally
come out right away,

00:39:38.709 --> 00:39:40.975
because they were patrolling
like regular policemen.

00:39:40.999 --> 00:39:44.185
And they'd come
to break up a fight

00:39:44.209 --> 00:39:46.185
and they'd take these pachucos,
they'd--

00:39:46.209 --> 00:39:47.894
if they could catch them, if
they didn't run away, you know--

00:39:47.918 --> 00:39:49.975 position:20%
and they'd catch them
and throw them in the jeep

00:39:49.999 --> 00:39:52.500
and put them in the paddy wagon
and take them to jail.

00:39:55.375 --> 00:39:57.101 position:20%
With the sailors,
they'd put us in the jeep,

00:39:57.125 --> 00:40:00.059
take us a couple of blocks away,

00:40:00.083 --> 00:40:01.584
and tell us to get back to our
ship or get back to the station.

00:40:02.375 --> 00:40:06.101
None of the sailors
ever got arrested.

00:40:06.125 --> 00:40:08.768
You tell me one of the sailors
that got arrested

00:40:08.792 --> 00:40:10.560
for beating the hell
out of somebody, huh?

00:40:10.584 --> 00:40:12.834
(people shouting)

00:40:15.292 --> 00:40:16.959
♪ ♪

00:40:17.876 --> 00:40:21.975 position:20%
SAÁNCHEZ:
Within four or five days,
L.A. officials realized,

00:40:21.999 --> 00:40:25.975
"This could move us
out of control--

00:40:25.999 --> 00:40:27.975
out of control
in a wartime society."

00:40:27.999 --> 00:40:30.999
It could, in fact,
lead to much greater problems

00:40:31.542 --> 00:40:35.417
if servicemen kept disobeying
their superiors

00:40:35.792 --> 00:40:39.435
and going down
into these communities.

00:40:39.459 --> 00:40:41.018
And that's why it stops.

00:40:41.042 --> 00:40:42.975 position:20%
(shouting, sirens blaring)

00:40:42.999 --> 00:40:45.459
NARRATOR:
On June 8, 1943,
military authorities,

00:40:46.083 --> 00:40:49.975
in consultation
with civic leaders,

00:40:49.999 --> 00:40:51.999
declared the city off-limits
to servicemen.

00:40:53.250 --> 00:40:56.999
The rioting
ended soon afterwards.

00:40:59.999 --> 00:41:01.709
(sirens fading)

00:41:05.959 --> 00:41:09.975 line:20%
The following day, the city
council adopted a resolution

00:41:09.999 --> 00:41:13.268 line:20%
banning the wearing
of zoot suits

00:41:13.292 --> 00:41:15.018
on L.A. streets.

00:41:15.042 --> 00:41:16.768
Wearing the suit in public
was punishable

00:41:16.792 --> 00:41:19.334
by a 30-day jail term.

00:41:21.834 --> 00:41:24.768 position:20%
Stores that sold the suits

00:41:24.792 --> 00:41:26.351 position:20%
quickly moved to distance
themselves from the style

00:41:26.375 --> 00:41:29.459
that had become
a symbol of rebellion.

00:41:32.125 --> 00:41:34.584
SAÁNCHEZ:
Mexican American youth, I think,
were taught in World War II

00:41:34.834 --> 00:41:38.751
that they could not simply
choose by themselves

00:41:39.999 --> 00:41:43.975 position:20%
the way that they
would express themselves.

00:41:43.999 --> 00:41:47.143
They simply couldn't choose
what they could wear;

00:41:47.167 --> 00:41:49.643
they simply couldn't choose
who they could be;

00:41:49.667 --> 00:41:51.310 position:20%
that this was not a society

00:41:51.334 --> 00:41:53.810
that allowed for that kind
of freedom of expression

00:41:53.834 --> 00:41:56.185 position:20%
for these particular youth.

00:41:56.209 --> 00:41:59.083
And that's a very
painful lesson.

00:42:01.083 --> 00:42:02.685 position:20%
It's a very painful lesson

00:42:02.709 --> 00:42:04.000
when one hears the rhetoric
of "Americans all,"

00:42:04.999 --> 00:42:08.810
the rhetoric
of American promise,

00:42:08.834 --> 00:42:11.667
open to all sorts of immigrants,
all sorts of people.

00:42:15.999 --> 00:42:20.143
NARRATOR:
As the riots subsided, the
governor ordered the creation

00:42:20.167 --> 00:42:23.852 position:20%
of a citizens' committee.

00:42:23.876 --> 00:42:26.894
Its charge was to investigate
and determine

00:42:26.918 --> 00:42:29.999
the cause of the riots.

00:42:31.959 --> 00:42:34.852
Ironically, prison life had
sheltered the 38th Street boys

00:42:34.876 --> 00:42:38.292
from the worst mob violence
in Los Angeles history.

00:42:38.584 --> 00:42:42.584
With Hollywood stars
still working on their behalf,

00:42:42.999 --> 00:42:46.518
the kids got special treatment.

00:42:46.542 --> 00:42:49.935
YNOSTROZA:
We used to have
what the guards used to eat.

00:42:49.959 --> 00:42:53.435 line:20%
Their food, not prison food--
their food.

00:42:53.459 --> 00:42:56.643 line:20%
You know, steaks, pork chops,
milk, ice cream, cake.

00:42:56.667 --> 00:42:59.975 line:20%
Everything.

00:42:59.999 --> 00:43:00.975
♪ ♪

00:43:00.999 --> 00:43:03.417
NARRATOR:
Unlike the other boys, Hank
Leyvas refused to play along.

00:43:04.250 --> 00:43:08.143
His resistance to authority
earned him a stint

00:43:08.167 --> 00:43:11.042
at California's dreaded
Folsom prison.

00:43:16.167 --> 00:43:19.560
(crank winding)

00:43:19.584 --> 00:43:20.975
The locking of the doors,
he wrote,

00:43:20.999 --> 00:43:23.209
left him with a lonesome,
empty feeling.

00:43:26.834 --> 00:43:28.268
"You are standing up
to the iron door,

00:43:28.292 --> 00:43:30.560
"waiting for the guard to
come along and take the count.

00:43:30.584 --> 00:43:33.584 position:20%
"Listening as his footsteps
fade away in the distance,

00:43:35.626 --> 00:43:39.101
you realize that you are alone."

00:43:39.125 --> 00:43:41.459
(slamming door echoes)

00:43:44.375 --> 00:43:45.727
♪ ♪

00:43:45.751 --> 00:43:47.751
As the months passed, Leyvas
grew increasingly resentful.

00:43:52.167 --> 00:43:55.602
Finally, in November of 1943,

00:43:55.626 --> 00:43:58.602
defense attorneys
filed an appeal

00:43:58.626 --> 00:44:00.351
with the California
Second District Court

00:44:00.375 --> 00:44:02.918
claiming their clients
had been denied a fair trial.

00:44:03.999 --> 00:44:07.209
♪ ♪

00:44:09.083 --> 00:44:13.042
A year passed before
a decision was handed down.

00:44:13.751 --> 00:44:17.727
By this time, Hank and
the others had been locked up

00:44:17.751 --> 00:44:20.667
for more than two years.

00:44:24.876 --> 00:44:28.727
McGRATH:
I sent a telegram
to San Quentin,

00:44:28.751 --> 00:44:31.751 line:20%
care of Henry Leyvas,
to tell all the guys,

00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:35.751 line:20%
saying, "Appeal successful..."

00:44:36.834 --> 00:44:40.435
I've forgotten
what else it said,

00:44:40.459 --> 00:44:42.125 line:20%
but I know that it ended,ú"Oh, what a wonderful morning."

00:44:42.999 --> 00:44:46.101 line:20%
♪ ♪

00:44:46.125 --> 00:44:49.351
YNOSTROZA:
We couldn't believe it at first,
you know what I mean?

00:44:49.375 --> 00:44:51.810 position:20%
Like, it was like a shock.

00:44:51.834 --> 00:44:53.268
And one of the guys told me,

00:44:53.292 --> 00:44:54.975
he says, you know, "This guy's
got a barrel of homemade brew

00:44:54.999 --> 00:44:57.975
buried in the ground."

00:44:57.999 --> 00:45:01.268
And we felt like celebrating,
you know.

00:45:01.292 --> 00:45:03.894
So we dug it up

00:45:03.918 --> 00:45:05.685
and we got drunk, that night,
in the barracks over there.

00:45:05.709 --> 00:45:08.976
And the officers came,
you know--

00:45:09.000 --> 00:45:10.643
well, they weren't officers,
they were, like, supervisors--

00:45:10.667 --> 00:45:12.975
and the head guy, the warden,
told them,

00:45:12.999 --> 00:45:15.560
"As long as they
don't fight nobody, you know,

00:45:15.584 --> 00:45:17.310
"don't cause no problems,
leave them alone.

00:45:17.334 --> 00:45:19.810
Leave them alone,"
you know?

00:45:19.834 --> 00:45:21.334
And we drank that whole barrel,
yeah.

00:45:24.167 --> 00:45:25.393
NARRATOR:
In October of 1944,

00:45:25.417 --> 00:45:28.125
Hank Leyvas and the other boys
were set free.

00:45:32.375 --> 00:45:33.975
Ever defiant,
Hank Leyvas walked out

00:45:33.999 --> 00:45:36.852
of the Los Angeles
Hall of Justice

00:45:36.876 --> 00:45:39.518
wearing a zoot suit.

00:45:39.542 --> 00:45:42.975
The court ruled

00:45:42.999 --> 00:45:44.226
that Judge Fricke had committed
serious errors in the trial

00:45:44.250 --> 00:45:46.975 position:20%
and threw out the verdict,

00:45:46.999 --> 00:45:49.768
but the court did not clear
the 38th Street boys

00:45:49.792 --> 00:45:53.226
of the murder charge.

00:45:53.250 --> 00:45:56.810
Although L.A. authorities
declined to retry the case,

00:45:56.834 --> 00:46:00.125
the Sleepy Lagoon murder haunted
Hank and the others for life.

00:46:01.999 --> 00:46:06.059 position:20%
LUPE LEYVAS:
It stopped him
from going in the service,

00:46:06.083 --> 00:46:08.768
which is the thing
that he wanted so bad.

00:46:08.792 --> 00:46:11.975 position:20%
He'd already signed
in to the Merchant Marine.

00:46:11.999 --> 00:46:14.351
He'd already had a trial run.

00:46:14.375 --> 00:46:17.101 line:20%
And he was in uniform.

00:46:17.125 --> 00:46:19.500 line:20%
And, um, and it didn't happen.

00:46:22.834 --> 00:46:24.999
All this happened and, and it
just broke his, his future.

00:46:25.959 --> 00:46:28.999
♪ ♪

00:46:34.209 --> 00:46:36.101
NARRATOR:
José Díaz was dead,

00:46:36.125 --> 00:46:38.999
and his killer
got away with murder.

00:46:39.334 --> 00:46:43.334 position:20%
Those who had information
weren't talking in 1942.

00:46:47.667 --> 00:46:49.059
JUDY TORRES-PRESTON:
My mom did know who
the murderer of José Díaz was,

00:46:49.083 --> 00:46:52.351 position:20% line:20%
but she kept it to herself.

00:46:52.375 --> 00:46:54.834 line:20%
And she refused to cooperate
with the authorities.

00:46:58.709 --> 00:46:59.999 position:20%
NARRATOR:
Decades passed
before the truth emerged.

00:47:04.167 --> 00:47:06.059 position:20%
Toward the end of her life,

00:47:06.083 --> 00:47:07.894
Lorena Encinas at last
shared her secret

00:47:07.918 --> 00:47:10.602
about Sleepy Lagoon.

00:47:10.626 --> 00:47:13.602
TORRES-PRESTON:
My mother admitted to me

00:47:13.626 --> 00:47:15.685
that the reason that she

00:47:15.709 --> 00:47:17.143
kept that secret
from the authorities

00:47:17.167 --> 00:47:19.518
was that it was
her brother Louie

00:47:19.542 --> 00:47:22.250
who was involved in the murder.

00:47:24.834 --> 00:47:26.643
She kept it to herself because
she was not the type of person

00:47:26.667 --> 00:47:29.935
that would snitch,
so to speak, on anyone else.

00:47:29.959 --> 00:47:33.083 position:20%
And she also was trying
to protect my Uncle Louie.

00:47:34.334 --> 00:47:37.560
♪ ♪

00:47:37.584 --> 00:47:41.018
NARRATOR:
Lorena claimed that her brother
Louie was at the party

00:47:41.042 --> 00:47:44.167
before the 38th Street kids
arrived,

00:47:44.709 --> 00:47:48.584
but had been thrown out
for causing problems.

00:47:51.626 --> 00:47:54.059
Later that night,

00:47:54.083 --> 00:47:55.268
as José Díaz and two companions
left the party,

00:47:55.292 --> 00:47:58.500
they were met by an angry
Louie Encinas and his friends.

00:47:59.542 --> 00:48:02.976 position:20%
In the fight that followed,

00:48:03.000 --> 00:48:05.083
José Díaz was stabbed
and left to die.

00:48:10.083 --> 00:48:13.018
A short time later,

00:48:13.042 --> 00:48:14.999
Hank Leyvas and his friends
arrived at the party.

00:48:15.959 --> 00:48:18.999
♪ ♪

00:48:25.250 --> 00:48:28.560 position:20%
Louie Encinas was picked up

00:48:28.584 --> 00:48:31.226 position:20%
in the dragnet following
the Sleepy Lagoon murder,

00:48:31.250 --> 00:48:34.059 position:20%
but was let go by police.

00:48:34.083 --> 00:48:37.018 position:20%
Years later,
Encinas committed suicide.

00:48:37.042 --> 00:48:40.209
♪ ♪

00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:48.810
In 1943,
the citizens' committee

00:48:48.834 --> 00:48:51.975
investigating
the Zoot Suit Riots

00:48:51.999 --> 00:48:53.810
issued its report.

00:48:53.834 --> 00:48:56.727
It condemned the role played
by the press and by the L.A.P.D.

00:48:56.751 --> 00:49:00.584
and determined race to be
a central cause of the riots.

00:49:01.751 --> 00:49:05.876
At the same time, the mayor
came to his own conclusion.

00:49:06.584 --> 00:49:10.751
"The riots," he said, "were
caused by juvenile delinquents.

00:49:14.999 --> 00:49:17.417
Race was not a factor."

00:49:20.667 --> 00:49:23.852
The Sleepy Lagoon Defense
Committee was powerless

00:49:23.876 --> 00:49:26.560
to help the 38th Street girls.

00:49:26.584 --> 00:49:30.059
They remained wards of
the California Youth Authority

00:49:30.083 --> 00:49:32.999
until they reached
21 years of age.

00:49:34.792 --> 00:49:38.250
Lorena Encinas died in 1991.

00:49:41.999 --> 00:49:42.417
♪ ♪

00:49:43.667 --> 00:49:47.727 position:20%
As Hank Leyvas and the other
boys walked out of prison,

00:49:47.751 --> 00:49:51.250
a guard remarked,
"They'll be back."

00:49:52.999 --> 00:49:56.226
He was right.

00:49:56.250 --> 00:49:59.975
Hank Leyvas and many
of the other boys

00:49:59.999 --> 00:50:01.918
grew tragically familiar
with prison life.

00:50:07.792 --> 00:50:11.876 position:20%
Hank, the symbolic zoot suiter,
died in an East L.A. bar

00:50:13.125 --> 00:50:16.375
in 1971.

00:50:16.584 --> 00:50:20.584
The Sleepy Lagoon murder
remains officially unsolved.

00:50:28.667 --> 00:50:31.918
♪ ♪

00:50:48.334 --> 00:50:51.584
♪ ♪

00:51:04.959 --> 00:51:07.999
♪ ♪

00:51:18.167 --> 00:51:21.417
♪ ♪