old, anti-syndicalist laws, to jail predominantly black and Latino youth, even though the overwhelming numbers of people arrested were never charged. As a vast majority of those arrested were never charged, Operation Hammer was roundly criticized as a harassment operation whose chief goal was to intimidate young black and Hispanic men. In a PBS interview, when asked whether the local people in the minority areas expressed thanks to the police for their actions, he responded: A similar operation was conducted in 1988 after a drive-by shooting took the life of an innocent bystander, Karen Toshima, in Westwood Village. Rodney King and the Los Angeles riots On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was arrested and taken into custody by LAPD officers after a car chase. A bystander, George Holliday, recorded the use of force event on videotape. Gates and his department faced strong criticism in the aftermath of the use of force; Mayor Tom Bradley also called for Gates to resign, but he refused, leading to a stand-off between Gates and the mayor. The Christopher Commission report, issued July 10, 1991, identified a police culture of excessive force and poor supervision, and recommended numerous reforms, as well as Gates's removal. Gates finally announced his intention to resign on July 13, 1991. The 1992 Los Angeles riots on April 29, 1992, began when a Ventura County jury in Simi Valley acquitted three white and one Hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a high-speed pursuit. Despite the announcement that the jury was preparing to deliver the verdict in the case against the four officers, the L.A. Police Day shift was sent home. After the riots broke out, Gates told reporters that the situation would soon be under control and left Parker Center to attend a previously scheduled political fundraising dinner. The fund-raising event was part of an effort to fight a city charter amendment on the June 2 ballot that would limit the power and term of the chief. These actions led to charges that Gates was out of touch. General command-and-control failings in the entire LAPD hierarchy during the riots led to criticisms that he was incapable of managing his force. It took the arrival of 10,000 California Army National Guard forces, 3,500 federal troops, and 1,000 federal law enforcement officers to end the unrest over the next six days. In