Located north of Adams Morgan and west of Columbia Heights, the neighborhood was one of the most diverse in the nation, with a population of roughly equal proportions of black, Hispanic, and white residents, along with Vietnamese, Laotians, Indians, and South Korean ones.
[6] The District's mayor, Sharon Pratt Dixon, told the police to hold back from making arrests for looting, allegedly because she feared it would antagonize the crowd and lead to more violence.
[citation needed] Hoping to avoid a second night of rioting, city officials met with Hispanic community leaders the next day, but the meeting did little to stop the violence.
[7] The rioters pushed dumpsters into the streets to block traffic, looted and damaged stores, and attacked police vehicles and city transit buses, setting several on fire.
[5] In the time leading up to the riots, residents often complained that police were stopping Hispanics and asking them for immigration papers for petty offenses that were ignored when committed by whites.
[5] In the years leading up to the riots, a predominantly white group of homeowners had been pressing police to reduce public drunkenness, urination, littering, aggressive panhandling, and other quality-of-life issues in the neighborhood.
Some Black and Hispanic residents perceived these efforts to crack down on alcohol sales as an attempt to drive lower income people and the customers they served out of the neighborhood, further fueling tensions.
They also agreed not to ask witnesses or crime victims about their immigration status, so that more people would feel safe in coming forward to cooperate with authorities to make the community more secure.
[citation needed] The United States Commission on Civil Rights transmitted a report in 1993 to the President and others based on the testimonials, research, and field investigations about the atmosphere after the riots and feelings of Latinos living in D.C.