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Marines from Camp Pendleton were ordered by President Bush to support law enforcement agencies in Los Angeles in quelling rioting that broke out 29 April after four Los Angeles police officers were acquitted of criminal charges in the beating of motorist Rodney King.
The 1,500 Marines and corpsmen of a special purpose Marine air-ground task force (SPMAGTF) under the command of BGen Marvin T. Hopgood, Jr., the 1st Marine Division's assistant division commander, were part of Joint Task Force Los Angeles (JTFLA) under the command of MajGen Marvin Covault, USA, commanding general of the Army's 7th Infantry Division (Light) from Fort Ord, CA, which contributed 1,820 Soldiers to the JTF that was stood up on 1 May. The 9,975 members of the California National Guard who had deployed to the riot zone in...