Democratic leaders held a news conference in Los Angeles, California to respond to the presidents’s visit to Los Angeles to examine the areas hit hardest by urban rioting the previous week. The riots occurred after the acquittal of four white police officers charged with beating a black suspect during an arrest captured on videotape by a Los Angeles resident. The news conference was held at the same time the president was meeting with state and federal Republican leaders in another part of the building. The Democratic leaders criticized the obvious partisan aspect to the meeting when the president earlier claimed his visit to Los Angeles would not be political.