Thirty years after the savage assault on Rodney King, the Los Angeles police department is facing a reckoning over its failure to curb brutality, racial profiling and officer misconduct since the historic uprising. Imani Perry: Rodney King, 30 years later King was still suffering more than a year later, on April 29, 1992, when a Simi Valley jury failed to convict any of the police officers who'd beaten. Rodney King himself would speak out publicly on the third day of the riots, proclaiming what would become an iconic statement: "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? King was arrested once more in 1999 for a domestic altercation and sentenced to 90 days in jail in addition to being required to attend a batterer's treatment program. Al Sharpton told the New York Times last year. On April 29, 1992, the streets of South Central Los Angeles erupted into chaos. All rights reserved. He was caught, convicted, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Advocates who lived through the riots are now fighting to defund the police and dismantle unions that thwart accountability. We'll get our day in court, and that's all we want. He strongly criticized King, who, he said, provoked the officers' initial actions. Very little has changed, other than theyve gotten better at PR.. It's not right, and it's not going to change anything. Koon orders the officers to "hit his joints, hit the wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles". [2] The footage showed an unarmed King on the ground being beaten after initially evading arrest. She said King had been banging on the windows of the house and pounded. The combination of alcohol, cocaine, and PCP found in his system were contributing factors, as were cardiomegaly and focal myocardial fibrosis. According to NPR, despite his best efforts, King said the battle for sobriety was continuous. Photo: Douglas Burrows/Liaison/Getty Images, G. Gordon Liddys Wild Career After Watergate, Name: Rodney King, Birth Year: 1965, Birth date: April 2, 1965, Birth State: California, Birth City: Sacramento, Birth Country: United States. The three had spent the night watching basketball and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles. In a separate civil lawsuit in 1994, a jury found the City of Los Angeles liable and awarded King $3.8 million in damages. The federal government prosecuted a separate civil rights case, obtaining grand jury indictments of the four officers for violations of King's civil rights. King had previously been arrested twice on suspicion of abusing her. My country's been good to me, and I've done some things that wasn't pleasant in my lifetime, and I've been forgiven for that.". George Holliday, a plumber who gained local and national fame when he taped the infamous LA police beating of Rodney King, has died from COVID-19, it was reported; On March 3, 1991, Holliday stood on the balcony and recorded four white LA police officers using batons, Tasers and feet to subdue a Black man later identified as King July 16, 1992: King was arrested at 1:40 A.M. for driving while intoxicated. [57], The federal trial focused more on the incident. POMONA -- Rodney King was taken into custody Saturday afternoon after visitors to a park complained of his erratic behavior, his second run-in with the law in a little more than a month, authorities said. ", He went on to talk about his healing process, which included forgiving the officers who injured him. George Holliday, the plumber who in the early morning hours of March 3, 1991, captured on his bulky video camera a group of white L.A.P.D. The police union president, Craig Lally, called BLMs campaign laughable in a statement, saying it was one of the most undemocratic, authoritarian ploys there are and adding: They have zero ability to disband our union [We] will continue to fight for the rights of working-class Americans.. June 17, 2012 -- Rodney King, the man who was at the center of the Los Angeles police brutality case that later sparked the Los Angeles riots has died. The 17 other LAPD officers who were there and did nothing to prevent the beating faced no repercussions. Peace is more productive. Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday,. The other two were acquitted of the charges. Before Eric Garner and George Floyd, there was Rodney King. It's just not right, because those people will never go home to their families again. Born on April 2, 1965, in Sacramento, California, Rodney Glen King was an African American who became a symbol of racial tension in America, after his beating by Los Angeles police officers in 1991 was videotaped and broadcast to the nation. This belief is actually a crude regurgitation of a myth started by Dr. Hamilton Wright in 1910, which claimed that Black people experienced superhuman strength under the influence of cocaine. More than 50 people were killed, more than 2,000 were injured and 9,500 were arrested for rioting, looting and arson, resulting in $1 billion in property damage. This week 25 years ago, policemen were acquitted in the savage beating of African-American Rodney King. August 21, 1993: King crashed into a wall near a downtown Los Angeles nightclub. As a result, King was frequently tired and unresponsive in class, which led the school to place him in a disabled learning class. Arguing previous reforms have done little to curb the departments brazenness, they are calling for sweeping change: take away power, and funding, from LAPD. the death of George Floyd at the hands of police is also filmed by . While driving. April 29, 1992 - The four white LAPD officers are acquitted of beating King. I'm comfortable with my position in American history. Can't we all get along. Flames roar from a Thrifty Drug store in the Crenshaw area of Los Angeles on 29 April 1992. He was released on December 27, 1990, after serving one year in prison. This recording would go down in infamy for its exposure of police brutality, along with police corruption, as the video contradicted the LAPD's report. And, just, uh, I love I'm neutral. ", Video of Rodney King's Plea during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption, Willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force, Willfully permitting and failing to take action. The footage itself did not prompt mass protests. [65] The estate of Freddie Helms, the other passenger, settled for $20,000; Helms died in a car crash on June 29, 1991, age 20, in Pasadena. April 20, 2023 Richard J. Riordan, a Queens-born lawyer, businessman and former mayor of Los Angeles who led the city at a particularly divisive time and brought a free-enterprise approach to. King stayed in the vehicle until police yelled at him a second time to get out. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the incident from a distance. The role that the assault played in King's life and the role it played in the civil rights movement were inextricable, but King's book gave him a chance to separate "Rodney King the man" from "Rodney King the movement.". King shared his struggles as a reality TV star on VH1's Celebrity Rehab, and in his 2012 memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. Riots broke out in Los Angeles, 29 April 1992, after a jury acquitted four police officers accused of beating a black youth, Rodney King, in 1991, hours after the verdict was announced. King was charged with violating his parole and sent for sixty day to an alcohol treatment center. During this time, with the help of a ghostwriter, King wrote his memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. According to Melanie Singer's testimony, whenKing did get out of the car, he displayed erratic behavior, such as waving at the police helicopter and waving his butt at the officers. "I couldn't sleep at night. [64] King refused and sued the city, and was subsequently awarded $3.8 million. Can we get along?". Powell's report would leave out several important details, such as the presence of Allen and Helms in the car and civilian witnesses at the scene. [69] In 1992, he was arrested for injuring his wife, Crystal King. King, a Sacramento native, died in Rialto on June 17, 2012, of what was . On August 4, 1992, three months after the Los Angeles riots ended, a federal grand jury once more indicted officers Koon, Powell, Wind, and Briseno, this time for violating King's civil rights. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! King became known worldwide in 1991 when his arrest and beating by Los Angeles police officers was captured on videotape. We just gotta. Lawyers for Nichols' mother, RowVaughn Wells, filed the lawsuit in federal court. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.19. In November 1989, he was arrested for assault and robbery and sentenced to two years in prison. Briseno moves in, attempting to stop Powell from striking again, and Powell stands back. Powell strikes King several more times with his baton. "[62], Mitigation cited by the judge in determining the length of the prison sentence included the suffering the officers had undergone because of the extensive publicity their case had received, high legal bills that were still unpaid, the impending loss of their careers as police officers, their higher risks of abuse while in prison, and their undergoing two trials. At 12:45 a.m. on March 3, 1991, robbery parolee Rodney G. King stops his car after leading police on a nearly 8-mile pursuit through the streets of Los Angeles, California. Who Is Suspected Pentagon Leaker Jack Teixeira? ', "Rodney King's Daughter Stands With LAPD 25 Years After Dad's Beating", "Psycho Cop Returns (AKA Psycho Cop 2) (1993)", "How Kurt Russell Redefined Heroism in 'Dark Blue,' An LA Riots Story 15 Years Ahead of Its Time", "Ice Cube: 'Police Have Become Our Worst Bullies', "In Roger Guenveur Smith's 'Rodney King,' a whispered evocation of the L.A. riots", "Springboard for the Arts welcomes writer to residency The Fergus Falls Daily Journal", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rodney_King&oldid=1152202056, Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), Participants in American reality television series, Victims of police brutality in the United States, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from September 2010, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia indefinitely move-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Pages using infobox person with multiple partners, Pages using embedded infobox templates with the title parameter, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2018, Pages using Sister project links with hidden wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Victim of a police brutality case that led to public protests, riots and police reform, Briseo, Koon, and Wind not guilty on all counts. The judge acknowledged that the two trials did not legally constitute double jeopardy, but raised "the specter of unfairness". Of these, three were acquitted; the jury failed to reach a verdict on one charge for the fourth. In addition to dismantling unions, a coalition of local groups is also continuing to push for substantial cuts to the LAPD budget and for the funds to be reinvested in services and programs that support public health and safety. Videotape of the incident shot from a nearby apartment. The riots and police response to the violent aftermath resulted in the resignation of L.A.P.D. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force. McBrides father is one of the directors of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, one of the unions that aggressively fights reforms, donates to and lobbies elected officials, and defends officers who kill members of the public. Please enter valid email address to continue. VIDEOS: Rodney King and the L.A. riots Early Sunday morning, at age 47, King was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool in Rialto. He later married and had a daughter with Crystal Waters. Still, he could not find anyone interested in seeing the video. Melina Abdullah speaks during a Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles news conference last month. Flynn/AP. Kelley had previously served as a juror in King's civil law suit against the City of Los Angeles. King is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California. The footage showed seven officers surrounding the solitary King, with several LAPD officers repeatedly striking a . While his father would drink and listen to country music, King and his brother would buffer the floors until 2:00 AM, barely having a chance to get some sleep before having to wake up for school in the morning. The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the Rodney King riots or the 1992 Los Angeles uprising, were a . [31] The footage as a whole became an instant media sensation. In our review, we find that officers struck him with batons between fifty-three and fifty-six times." [79][80] This arrest led to a February 2012 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving. The United States Department of Justice filed federal civil rights charges against the four officers, and in August 1992, two of them were found guilty while the other two were acquitted. Menudo Star Says Jos Menendez Assaulted Him. The police commission ruled that the shooting violated policy, but the officers have not faced charges. Their trial in a federal district court ended in April 1993, with two of the officers being found guilty and sentenced to serve prison terms. Chief Darryl Gates, thought by many minorities to symbolize institutionalized racial intolerance. For some in LA, Wednesdays anniversary of the 1991 attack is a painful reminder of the ways the racist and deadly law enforcement practices of the 1990s remain alive today. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. I got ulcers. "[53], Within hours of the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles riots began, lasting six days. Rodney King drowned in his swimming pool in 2012 (image via Matt Sayles, The Associated Press) After the January 10 death of Tyre Nichols after a Memphis . King was eventually awarded $3.8 million in a civil trial for the injuries he sustained. First published on August 23, 2012 / 2:07 PM. The riots resulted in more than 2,000 injuries, 50 deaths, and 6,000 arrests. Movie director John Singleton, who was in the crowd at the courthouse, predicted, "By having this verdict, what these people did, they lit the fuse to a bomb. I got ulcers. ', "Autopsy attributes Rodney King's death to drowning", "Mourners arrive for Rodney King service at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills", "Rodney King Laid To Rest At Forest Lawn", "Rodney King's daughter remembers a human being, not a symbol", "On this day in 1992 Rodney King asked, 'Can't we all just get along? The low sentences were controversial and were appealed by the prosecution. Police associations have been the primary force that has really enabled this explosion of brutal and violent policing, said Abdullah. Four officers were eventually tried on charges of use of excessive force. Today is Monday, May 1, the 121st day of 2023. An uninvolved individual, George Holliday, filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage to local news station KTLA. [14], King left the freeway near the Hansen Dam Recreation Area and the pursuit continued through residential streets at speeds ranging from 55 to 80 miles per hour (90 to 130km/h), and through at least one red light. I'm comfortable with my position in American history. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. [88][89] Responding officers removed King from the pool and performed CPR on him. Only two days . It was like being raped, stripped of everything, being beaten near to death there on the concrete, on the asphalt. A bystander filmed the incident and sent the tape to local news station KTLA. George Holliday, who filmed Rodney King video, dies of COVID September 20, 2021 LOS ANGELES (AP) George Holliday, the Los Angeles plumber who shot grainy video of four white police officers beating Black motorist Rodney King in 1991, has died of complications of COVID-19, a friend said Monday. Its the same old disproportionate stops, targeting, harassment, brutalizing and killing., We were hopeful that this kind of confirmation of our experiences would mean that there would be justice and meaningful change, Abdullah, of BLM, said of the King footage. More than two decades after being brutally beaten by police officers, in May 2012, King discussed the incident with The Guardian, stating, "It's not painful to relive it. [33], On September 19, 2021, Holliday died of COVID-19 complications at a hospital in Los Angeles. It was like being raped, stripped of everything, being beaten near to death there on the concrete, King recalled in an interview with the Guardian in 2012, a month before his death. His fiancee, Cynthia Kelley, found him at the bottom of a swimming pool in Rialto, California. And when, despite the vicious behavior seen in the video, the officers involved in the assault were found not guilty, their acquittal sparked what would become known as the Los Angeles Riots of 1992. He reported that the attackers were a man and a woman who demanded his bicycle and shot him when he rode away. I just knew how it felt to be a slave. [1] On March 3, 2011, the 20th anniversary of the beating, the LAPD stopped King for driving erratically and issued him a citation for driving with an expired license. On 3 March 1991, just after midnight, 25-year-old Rodney King was pulled over, and four white LAPD officers brutally kicked and beat him on the pavement. Police said there were no signs of foul play. [clarification needed] On March 9 of the 1993 trial, King took the witness stand and described to the jury the events as he remembered them. [42][43], On April 29, 1992, the seventh day of jury deliberations, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. "[On his brutal beating by L.A.P.D. They pursued King with lights and sirens, and the pursuit reached 117mph (188km/h), while King refused to pull over. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Hollywood writers going on strike over fair pay in streaming era, Missing teens may be among 7 people found dead in Oklahoma, authorities say, Fish contaminated with "forever chemicals" found in nearly every state, Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" singer, dies at 84, CBS News Poll: How GOP primary race could be Trump v. Trump fatigue, At least 6 dead after dust storm causes massive pile-up on Illinois highway, Oklahoma governor signs gender-affirming care ban for kids, U.S. tracking high-altitude balloon first spotted off Hawaii, Bob Lee died from three stab wounds, medical examiner says, Missing teens may be among 7 found dead in Oklahoma, authorities say, DNA solves "decades-old mystery" after woman's remains found in 1995, Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell case: A timeline of events, Arkansas woman indicted for selling stolen body parts to Pennsylvania man. Rodney King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991. Thats enough! officers in 1991. Marines, Army soldiers, and the National Guard were also brought in to monitor the streets. However, most of the money would end up going to lawyers' fees and the music label King tried to start. [75] During his time on Celebrity Rehab and Sober House, King worked on his addiction and what he said was lingering trauma of the beating. [56], The widely quoted line has been often paraphrased as, "Can we all just get along?" In the videotape, King continues to try to stand again. Through it all, Rodney King was just a man trying to find his way in the world. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who runs the facility, showed concern for King's life and said he would die unless his addictions were treated. In May 1991, he was arrested on suspicion of having tried to run down an undercover vice officer in Hollywood, but no charges were filed. So many activists are calling for defunding the police because the changes that have occurred in cosmetics have not made real changes in how many Angelenos and marginalized communities are experiencing policing, said Armour. On March 3, 1991, he was beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers during his arrest after a pursuit for driving while intoxicated on the I-210. Rodney King was 47 when he died on June 17, 2012, at his home in Rialto, California. The suit seeks a jury trial and . [72] On November 29, 2007, while riding home on his bicycle,[64] King was shot in the face, arms, and back with pellets from a shotgun. [76], In 2009, King and other Celebrity Rehab alumni appeared as panel speakers to a new group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for him. The police chase after King had ended in front of an apartment building, waking one of the tenants with the sound of helicopters at 1:00 AM. In 2005, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, and in 2007, police found him drunk with non-life threatening gunshot wounds also believed to be the result of a domestic dispute. The officers later testified that they believed King was under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP),[24] although King's toxicology tested negative for the drug. With the settlement, King was able to buy a home for his mother, as well as one for himself. Without Holliday's video, the officers might never have been charged for the assault. The men who beat Rodney King do not deserve to wear the uniform of the LAPD. The jury was comprised of ten white people, one Hispanic person and one Asian person, and many objected to the fact that there were no African American jurors. [95] King never advocated for hatred or violence against the police, pleading, "Can we all get along? In April 2012, King spoke candidly to CBS2/KCAL9 News anchor Pat Harvey about his life since the riots as well as his ability to forgive the officers. Truck driver Reginald Denny nearly died from a random attack during one of the most violent uprisings in Los Angeles' history but good Samaritans saved him. King was pronounced dead at a local hospital, 20 years after the L.A. riots threw him into the center of the fight against racial tension in America. His work with Dr. Drew Pinsky would continue in Sober House, and during one episode, King revisited the place of the 1991 assault. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while amateur cameraman George Holliday caught it all on videotape. On 3 March 1991, just after midnight, 25-year-old Rodney King was pulled over, and four white LAPD officers brutally kicked and beat him on the pavement. Images of the moment shared to social media on Friday show . The officers noted the use of force and batons in their reports, concluding that it had been justified, given King's aggressive nature. [15][16][17] By this point, several police cars and a police helicopter had joined in the pursuit. The buildings were burning so bad that you could feel the heat from both sides of the street coming into the car as we were driving, recalled Quintus Moore, a 62-year-old South LA resident who lived through the riots. But when he talked with the desk officer about having witnessed an incident of police brutality and asked about the state of the driver, he was met with disinterest and dismissal. During the next one minute and 19 seconds, King is beaten continuously by the officers. It causes more stress to build up anger. This past Sunday, Rodney King died at age 47, closing the book on a troubled life burdened by one of the more tragic cases of unwanted celebrity in recent American history. In his report, Officer Powell wrote that King was only temporarily halted by the Taser before appearing to attack again. Lead prosecutor Terry White was black. Led by attorney Warren Christopher, it was created to conduct "a full and fair examination of the structure and operation of the LAPD", including its recruitment and training practices, internal disciplinary system, and citizen complaint system. . Two of the four officers, Stacey Koon and Laurence Powell, were given guilty verdicts (via History) and served 30 months in prison for their crimes (via Time ). [61] He concluded that Officer Powell never intentionally struck King in the head, and "Powell's baton blow that broke King's leg was not illegal because King was still resisting and rolling around on the ground, and breaking bones in resistant suspects is permissible under police policy.