USA Today, March 26, 1993:

He is less reticent about the building racial tension in L.A., where attention is fixed on the trial of four policemen accused of violating black motorist Rodney King's civil rights.

"If they find them guys not guilty, I say get a bomb shelter," Ice-T snarls. "This time it's gonna be national. Everybody in America's looking at it, and no matter how bad (the jurors) wanna let them cops go—sometimes they gotta sacrifice the lamb."

Last year's riots were more a public demand for fair play than a venting of mindless outrage, he says.

"Now regardless of how stupid or ignorant or wrong or unfocused that particular uprising was, it was necessary. If they hadn't rioted, there wouldn't be a second trial."

Ice-T isn't a full-time rebel. He likes to lose himself in comic books and video games. He doesn't drink or smoke, and he's never taken drugs. He's a protective parent who plans to send his son to a private school and hopes his 15-year-old daughter will abandon her entertainment dreams and become an attorney.

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