Rodney King

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Rodney Glen King (born April 2, 1965 in Sacramento, California) is an African-American taxi driver who died, 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 Holiday, 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.[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. The announcement of the acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Contents

[edit] Incident

Rodney 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 they believed 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 — 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 announcement 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 55 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. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice....Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out.[7] ”

[edit] Federal trial of officers

After the riots, the United States Justice Department reinstated its investigation and subsequently obtained an indictment of federal civil rights violations against the four officers involved in King's beating. The federal trial, as compared to the state trial, focused more on the medical and officer training evidence in the case instead of just relying on the videotape of the incident which the state had done so previously. As a result, Officer Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacey Koon, were found guilty by a jury and sentenced to 30 months of prison, while Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno were acquitted of all charges against them.

[edit] Analysis and cultural impact of the event

The video of the incident is an example of inverse surveillance (i.e. citizens watching police). As a result of the incident, several Copwatch organizations were formed nationwide to safeguard against police abuse. Counter-police-abuse organizations and justice committees for victims of police violence increased after 1992, and a national umbrella group, October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, was created. Black community and civil rights leaders have repeatedly used the Rodney King incident as an analogy.

[edit] Recent life

After the riots King was awarded $3.8 million in a civil case, and used some of the money to start a hip hop music label, Straight Alta-Pazz Recording Company.[8] He subsequently moved to Rialto, California. King also made a cameo on an episode of BET's ComicView.

He was arrested again for spousal assault in 1999. In 2001, he was then ordered to undergo a year of drug treatment after pleading guilty to three counts of being under the influence of PCP and one of indecent exposure.[9]

On August 27, 2003, he was arrested again on similar charges as in 1991. It is alleged that King was speeding, ran a red light while under the influence of alcohol, failed to yield to police officers, and then slammed his SUV into a house, breaking his pelvis.[10]

While riding to his home in San Bernardino, California on November 29, 2007, he was shot in the face, arms, back and torso with birdshot by two thieves attempting to steal his bicycle,[11] but police characterized his injuries as "not life threatening."[12]

[edit] Trivia

The 1991 incident with King and the LAPD was the main subject of the debut single from musician, Ben Harper. The track, "Like A King", took a swipe at the LAPD and parralled it to the days of the slave trade - "A legal lynch mob/Like the days strung up from the tree/the LAPD"

The track is taken from Harper's debut album, Welcome to the Cruel World .

[edit] References

  1. ^ L.A. Times feature article
  2. ^ George Holliday. The footage second-by-second.
  3. ^ Lou Cannon. Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles ISBN 0813337259
  4. ^ JURIST - The Rodney King Beating Trials
  5. ^ http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/white.jpg
  6. ^ NY Times: April 30 1992, THE POLICE VERDICT; Los Angeles Policemen Acquitted in Taped Beating
  7. ^ Ralph Keyes. The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When. ISBN 0-312-34004-4
  8. ^ BBC News "Flashback: Rodney King and the L.A riots"
  9. ^ Where are they now? "Rodney King's claim to fame"
  10. ^ Rodney King slams SUV into house, breaks pelvis
  11. ^ Reston, Maeve. "Rodney King is shot while riding his bicycle.", Los Angeles Times, 2007-11-30. Retrieved on 2007-11-30. 
  12. ^ "Rodney King Sprayed With Shotgun Pellets", Associated Press, 2007-11-29. Retrieved on 2007-11-29. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King"
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