The Watts Riots, often referred to collectively as the Watts Rebellion, were a group of protests in the summer of 1965 (Borstelmann 156). The uprisings began with the arrest of a black man by a white police officer in the bitterly poor Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts. Marquette Fry, the man who was arrested, had been driving while intoxicated when he was pulled over near his home (“Watts Rebellion”). Upon seeing her son being “forcefully” apprehended, the suspect’s mother began to interfere with the arrest, leading to an altercation and eventually the arrest of three; Marquette, his mother, and his brother (“Watts Rebellion”). The scene garnered much attention from people in the area and a large crowd gathered before the incident was over (“Watts Riots”).