Rodney King

Rodney King

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Rodney Glen King (born April 2, 1965 in Sacramento, California) is an African-American motorist driver who, in 1991 was stopped and then beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers (Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Sergeant Stacey Koon) after being chased for speeding. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the event from a distance. Part of the video was broadcast around the world and shows four LA police officers restraining and repeatedly striking a black man, while four to six other officers stand by allowing the beating to occur.[1] There is no part of the tape that shows Mr. King attacking the officers, as some have claimed.[2]

The resulting public outrage raised tensions between the black community and the LAPD, and increased anger over police brutality and issues such as unemployment, racial tension, and poverty in the black community of South Central Los Angeles. The four officers were tried in a state court for using excessive force, but were acquitted. This sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Contents [hide]

1 Incident

2 State acquittal of police officers

3 Comments of public officials

4 LA riots and the aftermath

5 Federal trial of officers

6 Analysis and cultural impact of the event

7 Recent life

8 References

9 See also

10 External links

[edit] Incident

King was beaten by a group of police officers on March 3, 1991. The incident, minus the first thirteen seconds after King stopped, was captured on video by a private citizen, George Holliday, from his apartment near the intersection of Foothill Blvd and Osborne St. in the community of Lake View Terrace. The officers involved testified that he was under the influence of the dissociative drug phencyclidine (PCP).[3]

[edit] State acquittal of police officers

The Los Angeles District Attorney charged the four officers with use of excessive force towards King. But the judge was replaced and the new judge changed the venue and the jury-pool, citing contamination of the jury-pool due to the media coverage. The new venue was a newly built courthouse in Simi Valley, in neighboring Ventura County. The jury consisted of Ventura County residents вЂ" ten whites, one Latino and one Asian. The prosecutor, Terry White, was African-American. The jury acquitted three of the officers, but could not agree about one of the charges for Powell. On April 29, 1992, only Powell was convicted.[4][5]

[edit] Comments of public officials

In response to the verdict, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said "The jury's verdict will not blind us to what we saw on that videotape. The men who beat Rodney King do not deserve to wear the uniform of the L.A.P.D."[6]

[edit] LA riots and the aftermath

Main article: 1992 Los Angeles riots

The acquittal triggered the massive 4-day Los Angeles riots of 1992, one of the most intense civil disturbances in U.S. history. By the time the police, US Army, Marines and National Guard restored order, there was nearly $1 billion in damage and 53 deaths; 2,383 injuries; more than 7000 fire responses; and 3,100 businesses damaged. Smaller riots occurred in other US cities such as Las Vegas and Atlanta. On May 1, 1992, the third day of the L.A riots, King appeared in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm, asking:

“ People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?...It’s just not right. It’s not right.