Rodney King#Beating

{{short description|African American police brutality victim (1965–2012)}}

{{for|the film|Rodney King (film){{!}}Rodney King (film)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Rodney King

| image = CynthiaKelleyRodneyKingApr2012 (cropped).jpg

| caption = King in April 2012

| birth_name = Rodney Glen King

| birth_date = {{birth date|1965|4|2}}

| birth_place = Sacramento, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2012|06|17|1965|4|2}}

| death_place = Rialto, California, U.S.

| resting_place = Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills

| known for = Victim of a police brutality case that led to public protests, riots, and police reform

| notable_works = The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Daneta Lyles|1985|1988|end=divorced}}
{{marriage|Crystal Waters|1989|1996|end=divorced}}

}}

| partner = Cynthia Kelley (2010–2012){{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-11245542 | publisher=BBC News | title=Rodney King to marry juror from LA police beating case | date=September 9, 2010}}

| children = 3

}}

Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965{{spnd}}June 17, 2012) was an African American man who was a victim of police brutality. On March 3, 1991, he was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high speed pursuit for driving while intoxicated on the I-210. An uninvolved resident, George Holliday, saw and filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage, which showed King on the ground being beaten to a local news station KTLA.{{Cite book|last=Lester|first=Paul Martin|title=Visual Ethics: A Guide for Photographers, Journalists, and Filmmakers|publisher=Routledge|year=2018|page=85|asin=B07955S7GR}} The incident was covered by news media around the world and caused a public uproar.

At a press conference, Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates announced that the four officers who were involved would be disciplined for use of excessive force and that three would face criminal charges. The LAPD initially charged King with "felony evading", but later dropped the charge.{{Cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Brenda E.|title=The Contested Murder of Latasha Harlins: Justice, Gender, and the Origins of the LA Riots|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2015|page=284}} On his release, King spoke to reporters from his wheelchair, with his injuries evident: a broken right leg in a cast, his face badly cut and swollen, bruises on his body, and a burn area on his chest where he had been jolted with a stun gun. King described how he had knelt, spread his hands out, then slowly tried to move so as not to make any "stupid moves", before he was hit across the face by a billy club, and shocked with a stun gun. King also said he was scared for his life when the officers drew their guns on him.[https://www.cbsnews.com/news/march-3rd-1991-rodney-king-lapd-beating-caught-on-video/ March 3, 1991: Rodney King beating caught on video] CBS News

Four officers were eventually tried on charges of use of excessive force. Of them, three were acquitted; the jury failed to reach a verdict on one charge for the fourth. Within hours of the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles riots started, sparked by outrage among racial minorities over the trial's verdict and related, longstanding social issues, overlaid with tensions between the African American and Korean American communities.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-riots-unity-meeting-20170429-story.html|title=25 years after racial tensions erupted, black and Korean communities reflect on L.A. riots|access-date=June 28, 2020|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 29, 2017|first1=Sarah|last1=Parvini|first2=Victoria|last2=Kim}} The rioting lasted six days and 63 people were killed during it, and 2,383 other people were injured; it only ended after the California Army National Guard, the Army, and the Marine Corps provided reinforcements in an attempt to re-establish control. King advocated a peaceful end to the conflict.

The federal government prosecuted a separate civil rights case, obtaining grand jury indictments of the four officers for violations of King's civil rights. 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. The other two were acquitted of the charges. In a separate civil lawsuit in 1994, a jury found the City of Los Angeles liable and awarded King $3.8 million in damages.

Early life

Rodney Glen King was born in Sacramento, California, on April 2, 1965, the son of Ronald and Odessa King. He and his four siblings grew up in Altadena, California.{{cite news|title=Rodney King, L.A. police beating victim, dies|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/06/17/MN9T1P3FSA.DTL|access-date=June 25, 2018|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=June 18, 2012|first=Washington|last=Post}}{{cite news |title=Profile: An icon, anxious and shy: Rodney King – As he awaits a new trial of the police who beat him, Rodney King has become a hero, a demon, and a gold mine. |author=Phil Reeves |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-an-icon-anxious-and-shy-rodney-king--as-he-awaits-a-new-trial-of-the-police-who-beat-him-rodney-king-has-become-a-hero-a-demon-and-a-gold-mine-phil-reeves-reports-1474406.html |newspaper=The Independent |date=February 21, 1993 |access-date=July 1, 2012 |location=London}} King attended John Muir High School and often talked about being inspired by his social science teacher, Robert E. Jones.{{Cite book|title=The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption|last=King|first=Rodney|publisher=Harper One|year=2012|pages=12–15}} King's father died in 1984{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9337577/Rodney-King.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/9337577/Rodney-King.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Obits, Rodney King|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=United Kingdom|date=June 17, 2012}}{{cbignore}} at the age of 42.

On November 3, 1989, King robbed a store in Monterey Park, California. He threatened the Korean store owner with an iron bar. King then hit the store owner with a pole before fleeing the scene. King stole two hundred dollars in cash during the robbery. He was convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He was released on December 27, 1990, after serving one year in prison.

Marriage and family

King had a daughter with his girlfriend, Carmen Simpson. He later married Denetta Lyles (cousin of hate crime victim James Byrd Jr. and also cousin of rapper Mack 10) and had a daughter. King and Lyles eventually divorced. He later remarried and had a daughter with Crystal Waters. This marriage also ended in divorce.{{cite web|title=Rodney King|url=http://www.buddytv.com/info/rodney-king-info.aspx|publisher=BuddyTV.com|access-date=June 17, 2012}}

1991 police assault in Los Angeles

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Beating of Rodney King

| image = R King beating.png

| caption = Screenshot of King being beaten by LAPD officers

| date = {{start date and age|1991|3|3}}

| time = {{circa}} 12:45 a.m.

| timezone = PST

| location = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

| coordinates = {{coord|34.273182|-118.393596|format=dms|name=}}

| type = Beating, police brutality

| motive =

| target =

| fatalities =

| perpetrators =

| convicted = {{plainlist|

Stacey Cornell Koon
Laurence M. Powell

}}

| victim = Rodney Glen King

| charges =

Federal charges:

Briseño, Powell, Wind: Willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force
Koon: Willfully permitting and failing to take action to stop an unlawful assault

State charges:

Assault with a deadly weapon
Excessive use of force
Filing a false incident report (Koon and Powell){{Infobox event

| verdict = Federal charges:

Koon and Powell guilty
Briseño and Wind not guilty

State charges:

Briseño, Koon, and Wind not guilty on all counts
Powell not guilty of excessive force and filing a false report, hung jury on count of assault; assault charge dismissed once federal charges filed

| convictions =

| title =

| child = yes

| sentence = Koon and Powell:
{{frac|2|1|2}} years in federal prison

}}

Early in the morning of Sunday, March 3, 1991, King, with his friends Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving a 1987 Hyundai Excel west on the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The three had spent the night watching basketball and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles.{{cite web|author=Linder, D. | author-link= Doug Linder|url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |title=The Rodney King Beating Trials |publisher=Jurist |date=December 2001 |access-date=December 1, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091203041211/http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |archive-date=December 3, 2009 }} At 12:30 a.m., officers Tim and Melanie Singer, husband and wife members of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King's car speeding on the freeway. They pursued King with lights and sirens, and the pursuit reached 117 mph (188 km/h), while King refused to pull over.{{cite web|author=Linder, D.|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html|title=The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers' in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King |publisher=University of Missouri–Kansas City |date=2001 |access-date=March 2, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/koonvunitedstates.html |title=Stacey C. Koon, Petitioner 94-1664 v. United States |publisher=University of Missouri–Kansas City |date=June 13, 1996 |access-date=March 2, 2016}} King would later say he fled the police hoping to avoid a driving under the influence charge and the parole violation that could follow.Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 43.

King left the freeway near the Hansen Dam Recreation Area and the pursuit continued through residential streets at speeds ranging from {{convert|55|to|80|mph|round=5|km/h}}, and through at least one red light.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/18/us/seven-minutes-los-angeles-special-report-videotaped-beating-officers-puts-full.html |title=Seven Minutes in Los Angeles – A special report; Videotaped Beating by Officers Puts Full Glare on Brutality Issue |work=The New York Times |date=March 18, 1991 |access-date=March 2, 2016 |first1=Seth |last1=Mydans |first2=Richard W. |last2=Stevenson |first3=Timothy |last3=Egan}}{{Cite news |author=Whitman, David |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/1993/05/23/the-untold-story-of-the-la-riot|title=The Untold Story of the LA Riot |work=U.S. News & World Report |date=May 23, 1993 |access-date=March 2, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html|title=An Account of the Los Angeles Police Officers' Trials (The Rodney King Beating Case)|website=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=February 2, 2020}} By this point, several police cars and a police helicopter had joined in the pursuit. After approximately {{convert|8|mi|km|0}}, officers cornered King in his car. The first five Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers to arrive were Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Rolando Solano.

=Beating=

Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and to lie face down on the ground. Allen claims that he was manhandled, kicked, stomped, taunted and threatened.{{cite news|date= March 21, 1991|title= Passenger Describes L.A. Police Beating Of Driver, Calls It Racial|url= http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-03-21/news/9101140811_1_police-officers-bryant-allen-three-men|newspaper= The New York Times|access-date= November 10, 2014|archive-date= November 11, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141111070629/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1991-03-21/news/9101140811_1_police-officers-bryant-allen-three-men|url-status= dead}} Helms was hit on the head while lying on the ground; he was treated for a laceration on the top of his head.{{cite news |last= Newton|first= Jim|date= March 6, 1993|title= Prosecutor Says Officers Hit Passenger in King's Car|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-03-06-me-157-story.html|newspaper= Los Angeles Times|access-date= November 10, 2014}} His bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. King remained in the car. When he emerged, King was reported to have giggled, to have patted the ground and waved to the police helicopter overhead. King grabbed his buttocks, which Officer Melanie Singer took to mean King was reaching for a weapon,Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 27. though he was later found to be unarmed.{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/4245175/rodney-king-la-riots-anniversary/|title=Rodney King Beating at 25: What Happened in Los Angeles|first1=Chelsea|last1=Matiash|first2=Lily|last2=Rothman|date=March 3, 2016|access-date=July 20, 2016|magazine=Time}} She drew her pistol and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. Singer approached, gun drawn, preparing to arrest him. At this point, Koon, the ranking officer at the scene, told Singer that the LAPD was taking command and ordered all officers to holster their weapons.{{Cite news|title = Bid for Officers' Acquittal Fails: King case: The judge, in rejecting the defense motion, rules that there is sufficient evidence to support a conviction of each defendant in the beating of the motorist|url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-18-me-3983-story.html|newspaper = Los Angeles Times|date = March 18, 1992|access-date = November 21, 2015|issn = 0458-3035|first = Richard A.|last = Serrano}}

According to the official report, LAPD Sergeant Koon ordered the four other LAPD officers at the scene—Briseno, Powell, Solano and Wind—to subdue and handcuff King using a technique called a "swarm", where multiple officers grab a suspect with empty hands, to overcome potential resistance quickly. The four officers claim King resisted attempts to restrain him when he stood up to remove Officers Powell and Briseno from his back. Both King and witnesses dispute that claim. The officers would also testify later that they believed King was under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP),Cannon. Official Negligence: {{Page needed|date=September 2010}} although King's toxicology tested negative for the drug.Cannon, Lou (March 16, 1993). "[http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N14/king.14w.html Prosecution Rests Case in Rodney King Beating] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305012123/http://tech.mit.edu/V113/N14/king.14w.html |date=March 5, 2016 }}". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2009.

At this point, Holliday's video recording shows King on the ground after being tasered by Koon. He rises and rushes toward Powell—as argued in court, either to attack Powell or to flee—and King and Powell collided in a rush.{{rp|6}} Taser wire can be seen on King's body. Officer Powell strikes King with his baton, and King is knocked to the ground. Powell strikes King several more times with his baton. Briseno moves in, attempting to stop Powell from striking again, and Powell stands back. Koon reportedly said, "Stop! Stop! That's enough! That's enough!" King rises again, to his knees; Powell and Wind are seen hitting King with their batons.{{cite web|last=Serrano|first=Richard A.|date=March 7, 1992|title=CHP Officer Describes Chase, Beating of King : LAPD: One defendant tried to stop another's baton blows to motorist's head, she says.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-07-mn-3544-story.html|access-date=October 21, 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}

Koon acknowledged ordering the continued use of batons, directing Powell and Wind to strike King with "power strokes". According to Koon, Powell and Wind used "bursts of power strokes, then backed off". The officers beat King. In the videotape, King continues to try to stand again. Koon orders the officers to "hit his joints, hit the wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles". Officers Wind, Briseno, and Powell attempted numerous baton strikes on King, resulting in some misses but with 33 blows hitting King, plus seven{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Archives/video/march-1991-rodney-king-videotape-9758031|title=Video: March 7, 1991: Video of Rodney King Beaten by Police Released|website=ABC News}} kicks. The officers again "swarm" King, but this time a total of eight officers are involved in the swarm. King is placed in handcuffs and cord cuffs, restraining his arms and legs. King is dragged on his abdomen to the side of the road to await the arrival of emergency medical rescue.{{cite web|last=Curry|first=George E.|date=June 23, 2012|title=Rodney King symbolized police brutality|url=https://milwaukeecourieronline.com/index.php/2012/06/23/rodney-king-symbolized-police-brutality/l|access-date=August 25, 2022 |website=Milwaukee Courier Online|language=en-US}}{{cite book |last=Gray |first= D.E. |author-link= |date=March 9, 2010 |title=The Warrior in Me |location= |publisher= Xlibris|page= 212|isbn=978-1-4500-5797-4}}

=Holliday's video=

File:Kingbeating.jpg officers|297x297px]]

Plumbing salesman and amateur videographer George Holliday's videotape of the beating was shot on his camcorder from his apartment near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street in Lake View Terrace. Two days later (March 5), Holliday called LAPD headquarters at Parker Center to let the police department know that he had a videotape of the incident. Still, he could not find anyone interested in seeing the video. He went to KTLA, a local television station, with his recording. KTLA's Warren Wilson was the first reporter to take on the story, interviewing King inside his jail ward. {{Cite web |date=2024-10-09 |title=Groundbreaking Reporter Warren Wilson Passes Away |url=https://lasentinel.net/groundbreaking-reporter-warren-wilson-passes-away.html |access-date=2025-05-20 |website=Los Angeles Sentinel |language=en-US}}Warren Wilson Overcame. TV Week. June 27, 2005. https://www.tvweek.com/in-depth/2005/06/warren-wilson-overcame/

Holliday, whose video camera was in another part of his residence, was unable to retrieve it until the officers were already in the act of beating King.{{cite news |title=How citizen journalism has changed since George Holliday's Rodney King video |author=Steve Myers |url=http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/121687/how-citizen-journalism-has-changed-since-george-hollidays-rodney-king-video/ |date=March 3, 2011 |access-date=August 19, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821042730/http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/121687/how-citizen-journalism-has-changed-since-george-hollidays-rodney-king-video/ |archive-date=August 21, 2014 }} The footage as a whole became an instant media sensation. Portions were aired numerous times, and it "turned what would otherwise have been a violent, but soon forgotten, encounter between the Los Angeles police and an uncooperative suspect into one of the most widely watched and discussed incidents of its kind".{{cite web|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingvideo.html|title=The Holliday Videotape, George Holliday Video of King Beating|publisher=University of Missouri Kansas City Law School}}

Several "copwatch" organizations subsequently were started throughout the United States to safeguard against police abuse, including an umbrella group, October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality.[https://www.pbs.org/speaktruthtopower/issue_police.html PBS.org] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507221423/http://www.pbs.org/speaktruthtopower/issue_police.html |date=May 7, 2016 }} The ACLU {{cite web|url=https://www.aclu.org/police/gen/14614pub19971201.html#credits |title=Fighting Police Abuse: A Community Action Manual |access-date=November 9, 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091019064709/https://www.aclu.org/police/gen/14614pub19971201.html |archive-date=October 19, 2009 }} draw connections between this event and the subsequent activities of many organizations designed to oversee police activities. In 1992, these clips were added in the opening credits of Malcolm X.{{cite news|title=Holliday, Lee Settle 'Malcolm X' Dispute : Courts: Filmmaker reportedly agrees to pay cameraman about $100,000 for use of King beating footage.|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|last=Pristin|first=Terry|date=October 2, 1992|access-date=October 7, 2024|url-access=subscription|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-02-me-113-story.html}} On September 19, 2021, Holliday died from complications of COVID-19.{{cite news|title=George Holliday, Who Shot The Video Of Officers Beating Rodney King, Has Died|website=NPR|author=((The Associated Press))|date=September 21, 2021|access-date=October 7, 2024|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/09/21/1039236256/george-holliday-who-shot-the-video-of-officers-beating-rodney-king-has-died}}

Post-arrest events

= Aftermath =

King was taken to Pacifica Hospital after his arrest, where he was found to have suffered a fractured facial bone, a broken right ankle, and multiple bruises and lacerations.Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 205. In a negligence claim filed with the city, King alleged he had suffered "11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken [bones and teeth], kidney failure [and] emotional and physical trauma."{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/ChristopherCommissionLAPD|title=Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department (Christopher Commission Report)|last=The Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department|date=1991}}{{rp|8}} Blood and urine samples were taken from King five hours after his arrest. At this time, King's blood alcohol content was measured to be 0.075%. This indicated that King was intoxicated during the initial arrest as defined by California law, but with the samples taken after a five hour delay, were then below the legal limit of 0.08%.{{rp|8}} The tests also showed traces of marijuana (26 ng/ml).{{rp|8}} Pacifica Hospital nurses reported that the officers who accompanied King (including Wind) openly joked and bragged about the number of times they had hit King.{{rp|15}} Officers obtained King's identification from his clothes pockets at that time. King later sued the city for damages, and a jury awarded him $3.8 million, as well as $1.7 million in attorney's fees.{{cite news |title=Rodney King Is Arrested After a Fight at His Home |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-sep-30-me-king30-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=September 30, 2005 |access-date=July 1, 2012}} The city did not pursue charges against King for driving while intoxicated and evading arrest. District Attorney Ira Reiner believed there was insufficient evidence for prosecution. His successor Gil Garcetti thought that by December 1992, too much time had passed to charge King with evading arrest; he also noted that the statute of limitations on drunk driving had passed.{{cite news |last=Ford |first=Andrea |date=December 23, 1992 |title=Charges Against King Belatedly Dropped |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-23-me-2180-story.html |access-date=May 24, 2014 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}

=Charges against police officers and trial=

At a press conference, announcing the four officers involved would be disciplined, and three would face criminal charges, Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates said: "We believe the officers used excessive force taking him into custody. In our review, we find that officers struck him with batons between fifty-three and fifty-six times." The LAPD initially charged King with "felony evading", but later dropped the charge.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/06/us/police-beating-trial-opens-with-replay-of-videotape.html |title=Police Beating Trial Opens With Replay of Videotape |work=The New York Times |date=March 6, 1992 |first=Seth |last=Mydans |access-date=April 20, 2010}} Due to the extensive media coverage of the arrest, the trial received a change of venue from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County.{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/abcarian/la-me-abcarian-simi-valley-20170507-story.html|title=An aggravating anniversary for Simi Valley, where a not-guilty verdict sparked the '92 L.A. riots|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=Robin |last=Abcarian|date= May 7, 2017|access-date=May 7, 2017}} The jury was composed of ten white jurors, one biracial male,{{cite news |url=http://laist.com/2012/04/28/rodney_king_juror_talks_for_the_fir.php |title=Rodney King Juror Talks About His Black Father and Family For the First Time |work=laist |date=April 28, 2012 |access-date=March 8, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504013335/http://laist.com/2012/04/28/rodney_king_juror_talks_for_the_fir.php |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }} one Latino, and one Asian American.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/06/us/after-the-riots-a-juror-describes-the-ordeal-of-deliberations.html |title=After the riots; A Juror Describes the Ordeal of Deliberations |work=The New York Times |date=May 6, 1992 |access-date=March 4, 2011}} The prosecutor, Terry L. White, was black.{{cite web |url=http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |title=Jurist – The Rodney King Beating Trials |publisher=Jurist.law.pitt.edu |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100826053233/http://www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/trials24.htm |archive-date=August 26, 2010 }}[http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/white.jpg Law.umkc.edu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417235534/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/white.jpg |date=April 17, 2007 }} Mr. White was a Deputy District Attorney for Los Angeles County with eight years of experience. The District Attorney's office denied that race was taken into account when selecting the prosecutor, and multiple trial attorneys from Los Angeles agreed that race likely played no role.{{cite news |last1=Perez-Pena |first1=Richard |title=Prosecutor in Taped Beating Case Has Twin Aims |work=The New York Times |date=March 25, 1992 |ref=NYT-1992-03-25}}

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. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force. The verdicts were based in part on the first three seconds of a blurry, 13-second segment of the videotape that, according to journalist Lou Cannon, had not been aired by television news stations in their broadcasts.{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/authors_corner/jan-june98/cannon_4-7.html |title=Online NewsHour Forum: Authors' Corner with Lou Cannon – April 7, 1998 |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100812192824/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/authors_corner/jan-june98/cannon_4-7.html |archive-date=August 12, 2010 }}{{Cite news |title=All 4 Acquitted in King Beating : Verdict Stirs Outrage; Bradley Calls It Senseless: Trial: Ventura County jury rejects charges of excessive force in episode captured on videotape. A mistrial is declared on one count against Officer Powell. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-04-30-mn-1942-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=April 30, 1992|access-date = November 11, 2015 |issn=0458-3035 |language=en-US |first=Richard A. |last=Serrano}}

The first two seconds of videotape,{{cite web |author=Linder, D. |url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingvideo.html |title=videotape |publisher=Law.umkc.edu |access-date=August 11, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100823001955/http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingvideo.html |archive-date=August 23, 2010 }} contrary to the claims made by the accused officers, show King attempting to flee past Laurence Powell. During the next one minute and 19 seconds, King is beaten continuously by the officers. The officers testified that they tried to physically restrain King before the starting point of the videotape, but King was able to throw them off physically.The American edition of the National Geographic Channel aired the program "The Final Report: The LA Riots" on October 4, 2006, 10 pm EDT, approximately 27 minutes into the hour (including commercial breaks).

Afterward, the prosecution suggested that the jurors may have acquitted the officers because of becoming desensitized to the violence of the beating, as the defense played the videotape repeatedly in slow motion, breaking it down until its emotional impact was lost.Cannon, L. (2002). Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD. Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-8133-3725-9}}

Outside the Simi Valley courthouse where the acquittals were delivered, county sheriff's deputies protected Stacey Koon from angry protesters on the way to his car. 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."CNN Documentary Race + Rage: The Beating of Rodney King, aired originally on March 5, 2011; approximately 14 minutes into the hour (not including commercial breaks).

Following a hung jury in Officer Laurence Powell's initial state court trial for assault, a retrial was postponed by Superior Court Judge Stanley Weisberg, pending the federal grand jury trial of Powell for violating King's civil rights. Judge Weisberg stated "I don't think that's in anyone's best interest, to have three trials on the same subject matter involving the same defendant."{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/08/us/judge-delays-officer-s-retrial-in-los-angeles-taped-beating.html | title=Judge Delays Officer's Retrial in Los Angeles Taped Beating | work=The New York Times | date=August 8, 1992 }} Subsequent to his trial by the federal grand jury, the assault charge against Officer Laurence Powell was dismissed in state court.{{cite web | url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1993/04/28/Judge-dismisses-remaining-King-beating-charge/5362735969600/ | title=Judge dismisses remaining King beating charge - UPI Archives }}

= Christopher Commission =

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley created the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, also known as the Christopher Commission, in April 1991. 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.{{cite web|title = Shielded from Justice: Los Angeles: The Christopher Commission Report|url = https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports98/police/uspo73.htm|website = www.hrw.org|access-date = June 6, 2015}}

Los Angeles riots and aftermath

Though few people at first considered race an essential factor in the case, including Rodney King's attorney, Steven Lerman,{{Cite news|last=Margolick|first=David|date=March 17, 1991|title=Beating Case Unfolds, as Does Debate on Lawyer|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/us/beating-case-unfolds-as-does-debate-on-lawyer.html|access-date=October 21, 2020|issn=0362-4331}} the Holliday videotape was at the time stirring deep resentment among black people in Los Angeles and other major cities in the United States, where they had often complained of police abuse against their communities. The officers' jury consisted of Ventura County residents: ten white, one mestizo or indigenous, one Asian. Lead prosecutor Terry White was black. On April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted three of the officers but could not agree on one of the charges against Powell.

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 LAPD."Mydans, Seth (April 30, 1992). The videotape was largely thought to have helped inflame the riot. "[https://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/home/rodney-verdict.html The Police Verdict; Los Angeles Policemen Acquitted in Taped Beating] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160422065501/http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/02/08/home/rodney-verdict.html |date=April 22, 2016 }}". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2009. President George H. W. Bush said, "Viewed from outside the trial, it was hard to understand how the verdict could possibly square with the video. Those civil rights leaders with whom I met were stunned. And so was I, and so was Barbara, and so were my kids."{{cite book|last=Fiske|first=J.|author-link=John Fiske (media scholar)|title=Media Matters: Race and Gender in U.S. Politics|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=5mmFCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT188 188]|publisher=University of Minnesota Press}}

Within hours of the acquittals, the 1992 Los Angeles riots began, lasting six days. African-Americans were outraged by the verdicts and began rioting in the streets, by the time law enforcement, the California Army National Guard, the United States Army, and the United States Marine Corps restored order, the riots had resulted in 63 deaths, 2,383 injuries, more than 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses. Smaller riots occurred in other U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, and as far east as Atlanta and New York City. A civil disturbance occurred on Yonge Street in Toronto, Canada when Canadians gathered to protest the acquittal in Los Angeles as well as a local police killing of a Black man in Toronto two days prior.{{Cite news |last=Parris |first=Amanda |date=May 12, 2017 |title=History called it a riot, but this doc argues it was actually an uprising – one that continues today |url=https://www.cbc.ca/arts/history-called-it-a-riot-but-this-doc-argues-it-was-actually-an-uprising-one-that-continues-today-1.4112456 |access-date=November 14, 2020 |work=CBC |language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last1=Vyhnak|first1=Carola|date=May 4, 2017|title=Once Upon A City: The 1992 riot that served as a wake-up call for police|language=en|work=Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/once-upon-a-city-archives/2017/05/04/once-upon-a-city-the-1992-riot-that-served-as-a-wake-up-call-for-police.html|access-date=December 26, 2020}}

During the riots, on May 1, 1992, King made a television appearance pleading for an end to the riots:

I just want to say – you know – can we, can we all get along? Can we, can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? And ... I mean we've got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things ... It's just not right. It's not right, and it's not going to change anything. We'll get our justice. They've won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We'll get our day in court, and that's all we want. And, just, uh, I love – I'm neutral. I love every – I love people of color. I'm not like they're making me out to be. We've got to quit. We've got to quit; I mean, after all, I could understand the first – upset for the first two hours after the verdict, but to go on, to keep going on like this and to see the security guard shot on the ground – it's just not right. It's just not right, because those people will never go home to their families again. And uh, I mean, please, we can, we can get along here. We all can get along. We just gotta. We gotta. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while. Let's, you know, let's try to work it out. Let's try to beat it, you know. Let's try to work it out.{{YouTube|1sONfxPCTU0|Video of Rodney King's Plea during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots}}. Retrieved June 18, 2012.

The widely quoted line has been often paraphrased as, "Can we all just get along?" or "Can't we all just get along?"

Federal civil rights trial of officers

After the acquittals and the riots, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) sought indictments of the police officers for violations of King's civil rights. On May 7, federal prosecutors began presenting evidence to the federal grand jury in Los Angeles. On August 4, the grand jury returned indictments against the three officers for "willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force" and against Sergeant Koon for "willfully permitting and failing to take action to stop the unlawful assault" on King. Based on these indictments, a trial of the four officers in the United States District Court for the Central District of California began on February 25, 1993.{{cite web|last=Linder|first=D.|title=The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers' in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King|url=http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html|publisher=law2.umkc.edu|access-date=April 19, 2014|year=2001}}

The federal trial focused more on the incident.{{clarify|reason=Meaning?|date=September 2018}} On March 9 of the 1993 trial, King took the witness stand and described to the jury the events as he remembered them.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/10/us/rodney-king-testifies-on-beating-i-was-just-trying-to-stay-alive.html | title=Rodney King Testifies on Beating: 'I Was Just Trying to Stay Alive' | work=The New York Times | date=March 10, 2003 | last=Mydans | first=Seth | access-date=March 5, 2009}} The jury found Officer Laurence Powell and Sergeant Stacey Koon guilty, and they were subsequently sentenced to 30 months in prison. Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno were acquitted of all charges,{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-1664.ZS.html#FN1|title=Koon v. United States, 518 U.S. 81 (1996)}} but both were soon dismissed by the LAPD for their roles in the beating.{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/article/7f715b1715c345a7a6100567bf43fdf4|title=A look at prominent figures in 1992 riot, where are they now|work=Associated Press|date=April 26, 2017|last=Rogers|first=John|access-date=September 18, 2021}}

During the three-hour sentencing hearing, US District Judge John G. Davies accepted much of the defense version of the beating. He strongly criticized King, who, he said, provoked the officers' initial actions. Davies said that only the final six or so baton blows by Powell were unlawful. The first 55 seconds of the videotaped portion of the incident, during which the vast majority of the blows were delivered, was within the law because the officers were attempting to subdue a suspect who was resisting efforts to take him into custody.{{Cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-koon-powell-get-two-and-half-years-in-prison-19930805-story.html |title=Koon, Powell get two and half years in prison |last=Newton |first=Jim |date=August 5, 1993 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=March 1, 2018}}

Davies found that King's provocative behavior began with his "remarkable consumption of alcoholic beverage" and continued through a high-speed chase, refusal to submit to police orders and an aggressive charge toward Powell. Davies made several findings in support of the officers' version of events. 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."{{cite web |url=https://www.policeone.com/less-lethal/articles/3419781-Rodney-King-20-years-later/ |title=Rodney King, 20 years later |last=Meyer |first=Greg |date=March 10, 2011 |website=PoliceOne |language=en |access-date=March 1, 2018 |archive-date=March 2, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180302164038/https://www.policeone.com/less-lethal/articles/3419781-Rodney-King-20-years-later/ |url-status=dead }}

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. The judge acknowledged that the two trials did not legally constitute double jeopardy, but raised "the specter of unfairness".

These mitigations were critical to the validity of the sentences imposed because federal sentencing guidelines called for much longer prison terms in the range of 70 to 87 months. The low sentences were controversial and were appealed by the prosecution. In a 1994 ruling, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected all the grounds cited by Judge Davies and extended the terms. The defense appealed the case to the US Supreme Court. Both Koon and Powell were released from prison while they appealed to the Ninth Circuit's ruling, having served their original 30-month sentences with time off for good behavior. On June 14, 1996, the high court partially reversed the lower court in a ruling, unanimous in its most important aspects, which gave a strong endorsement to judicial discretion, even under sentencing guidelines intended to produce uniformity.{{Cite news|title = The Supreme Court: Sentencing; Court Upholds Sentence in King Case|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/14/us/the-supreme-court-sentencing-court-upholds-sentence-in-king-case.html|newspaper = The New York Times|date = June 14, 1996|access-date = October 5, 2015|issn = 0362-4331|first = Linda|last = Greenhouse}}

Later life

File:CynthiaKelleyRodneyKingApr2012.jpg

Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley offered King $200,000 and a four-year college education funded by the city of Los Angeles.{{Cite book|title=The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption|last=King|first=Rodney|publisher=HarperCollins Book|year=2012}} King refused and sued the city, and was subsequently awarded $3.8 million. Bryant Allen, one of the passengers in King's car on the night of the incident, received $35,000 in his lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-08-me-20439-story.html|title=LOS ANGELES : 2 Passengers in King's Car Settle Suits for $55,000|date=February 8, 1994|website=Los Angeles Times}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-06-30-me-2497-story.html|title=Passenger With King on Night of Beating Is Killed in Car Crash|date=June 30, 1991|website=Los Angeles Times}} King invested a portion of his settlement in a record label, Straight Alta-Pazz Records, hoping to employ minority employees, but it went out of business.{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070429034439/http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/la_riot/article/0,28804,1614117_1614084_1614831,00.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=April 29, 2007| title=The L.A. Riots: 15 Years After Rodney King|author=Madison Gray|date=May 2007|magazine=Time}} With help from a ghostwriter, he later wrote and published a memoir.Bates, K. G., [https://www.npr.org/2012/04/23/150985823/rodney-king-comes-to-grips-with-the-riot-within "Rodney King Comes To Grips With 'The Riot Within'"], NPR, April 23, 2012.

King was subject to further arrests and convictions for driving violations after the 1991 incident, as he struggled with alcoholism and drug addiction. In May 1991, King was arrested on suspicion of having tried to run down an undercover vice officer in Hollywood, but no charges were filed.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-29-me-8370-story.html|title=LOS ANGELES: Rodney King's Wife Files Petition for Divorce|date=November 29, 1995|website=Los Angeles Times}} In 1992, he was arrested for injuring his wife, Crystal King. Crystal ultimately declined to file a complaint. On August 21, 1993, King crashed his car into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles.{{cite news |title=Rodney King's Wife Files Petition for Divorce |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-11-29-me-8370-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=November 29, 1995 |access-date=July 1, 2012}} He was convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol, fined, and entered a rehabilitation program, after which he was placed on probation. In July 1995, King was arrested by Alhambra police after hitting Crystal with his car and knocking her to the ground during a fight. King had previously been arrested twice on suspicion of abusing her. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run.

On August 27, 2003, King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his vehicle into a house, breaking his pelvis.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/04/15/rodney.king.ap/|title=Rodney King slams SUV into house, breaks pelvis|date=April 16, 2003 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211205000/http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/West/04/15/rodney.king.ap/|archive-date=December 11, 2007}} On November 29, 2007, while riding home on his bicycle, King was shot in the face, arms, and back with pellets from a shotgun. He reported that the attackers were a man and a woman who demanded his bicycle and shot King when he rode away.{{cite news|author=Reston, Maeve | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-nov-30-me-king30-story.html |title=Rodney King shot while riding bike |work=Los Angeles Times |date= November 30, 2007 |access-date= December 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013020138/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/nov/30/local/me-king30 |archive-date=October 13, 2008 |url-status=live}} Police described the wounds as looking as if they came from birdshot.{{cite web|title = Report: Rodney King Shot in the Face {{!}} Fox News|website = Fox News|date = March 25, 2015|url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/2007/11/29/report-rodney-king-shot-in-face.html|access-date = October 5, 2015}}

In May 2008, King checked into the Pasadena Recovery Center in Pasadena, California, where he filmed as a cast member of Season 2 of Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, which premiered in October 2008. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who runs the facility, showed concern for King's life and said he would die unless his addictions were treated.{{cite news|work=TV Guide|title=Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew| page =8|date= June 23, 2008}} King also appeared on Sober House, a Celebrity Rehab spin-off focusing on a sober living environment.{{cite web|url=http://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/archives/celebrity_rehab/2008_Dec_19_sober_house_cast|title=Sober House will follow Celebrity Rehab cast, Andy Dick in sober living|work=reality blurred|date=December 19, 2008}} During his time on Celebrity Rehab and Sober House, King worked on his addiction and what he said was lingering trauma of the beating. King and Pinsky physically retraced King's path from the night of his beating, eventually reaching the spot where it happened, the site of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, which is now Discovery Cube Los Angeles.{{cite web |last=Thompson |first=Elise |title=Rodney King Forgives Officers Who Beat Him — LAist |url=http://laist.com/2009/02/22/rodney_king_forgives.php |access-date=December 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224201645/http://laist.com/2009/02/22/rodney_king_forgives.php |archive-date=February 24, 2009 }}

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. His appearance was aired in the third-season episode "Triggers".{{cite news |url=http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/triggers/1631736/playlist.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100215131451/http://www.vh1.com/video/celebrity-rehab-3/full-episodes/triggers/1631736/playlist.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 15, 2010 |title=Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Episode 3.6 ("Triggers") |publisher=VH1 |date= February 11, 2010}} King won a celebrity boxing match against Chester, Pennsylvania, police officer Simon Aouad on September 11, 2009, at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport in Essington.{{cite news|author=Stamm, Dan |date=August 19, 2009| url=http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/sports/Rodney-King-Takes-on-Former-Cop-53728342.html |title=No Plan to 'Get Along' When Rodney King Takes on Former Cop|work= NBC Philadelphia| access-date=December 1, 2009}}

On September 9, 2010, it was confirmed that King was going to marry Cynthia Kelley, who had been a juror in the civil suit he brought against the City of Los Angeles. 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.{{cite news| url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/03/rodney-king-stopped.html | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Rodney King stopped after traffic violation, police say | date=March 4, 2011}}{{cite news|url=http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17540843|title=Rodney King once again runs afoul of the law, cited for expired license in Arcadia|work=Pasadena Star-News|date=June 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110410153212/http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_17540843|archive-date=April 10, 2011}} This arrest led to a February 2012 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving.{{cite news |title=Rodney King pleads for calm in Trayvon Martin case |first=Stan |last=Wilson |work=CNN |date=April 12, 2012 |url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/12/us/trayvon-case-rodney-king/?hpt=hp_t1 |access-date=April 12, 2012}}

The BBC quoted King commenting on his legacy. "Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero. Others hate me. They say I deserved it. Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction like I'm a fool for believing in peace."{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18662564 | work=BBC News | title=Los Angeles riots: Rodney King funeral held | date=July 1, 2012}}

Memoir

In April 2012, King published his memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption.{{Cite episode |last=Grigsby Bates |first=Karen |title=Rodney King Comes To Grips With 'The Riot Within' |url=https://www.npr.org/2012/04/23/150985823/rodney-king-comes-to-grips-with-the-riot-within |series=Morning Edition |series-link=Morning Edition |network=NPR |air-date=April 23, 2012 |transcript=Author interview |transcript-url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=150985823 }} Co-authored by Lawrence J. Spagnola, the book describes King's turbulent youth as well as his personal account of the arrest, the trials, and the aftermath.{{Cite news |url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-219443-5 |title=Nonfiction Book Review |date=May 28, 2012 |publisher=Publishers Weekly |access-date=December 1, 2016 }}

Death

On Father's Day, June 17, 2012, King's partner, Cynthia Kelley, found him dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool.{{cite news|title=Rodney King dead at 47|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/17/us/obit-rodney-king/index.html|access-date=June 17, 2012 |publisher=CNN|date=June 17, 2012}}{{cite news| url= https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rodney-king-found-dead/| title= Rodney King found dead | date=June 17, 2012|work=CBS News| url-status= live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618085812/https://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57454782/rodney-king-found-dead/|archive-date=June 18, 2012}} King died 28 years to the day after his father, Ronald King, was found dead in his bathtub in 1984.{{Cite news|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/3005930/rodney-and-glen/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427214242/http://www.mtv.com/news/3005930/rodney-and-glen/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 27, 2017|title=The Rodney King We Never Knew|work=MTV News|access-date=November 10, 2018|language=en}}

Police in Rialto received a 911 call from Kelley at about 5:25 a.m. PDT.{{cite news|title=911 call reveals frantic moments, fiancee's pleas after finding Rodney King submerged in pool |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rodney-king-autopsy-completed-as-death-investigation-continues-results-to-take-weeks/2012/06/18/gJQAce7UmV_story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619004432/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/rodney-king-autopsy-completed-as-death-investigation-continues-results-to-take-weeks/2012/06/18/gJQAce7UmV_story.html |archive-date=June 19, 2012 |access-date=June 20, 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post |date=June 18, 2012|agency=AP |url-status=dead}}{{cite news|date=June 17, 2012|title=Police Beating Victim Who Asked 'Can We All Get Along?'|author=Jennifer Medina | work = The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/us/rodney-king-whose-beating-led-to-la-riots-dead-at-47.html}} Responding officers removed King from the pool and performed CPR on him. Still pulseless, King was then transferred to an advanced life support ambulance where paramedics attempted to revive him. King was transported to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California, and was pronounced dead on arrival at 6:11 a.m. at the age of 47. The Rialto Police Department began a standard drowning investigation and said there did not appear to be any foul play.

On August 23, 2012, King's autopsy results were released, stating that he died of accidental drowning. The combination of alcohol, cocaine, and PCP found in his system were contributing factors, as were cardiomegaly and focal myocardial fibrosis.{{cite web|url=https://documents.latimes.com/rodney-king-coroners-report/|website=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 12, 2019|title=Coroner's report on Rodney King death}} The conclusion of the report stated: "The effects of the drugs and alcohol, combined with the subject's heart condition, probably precipitated a cardiac arrhythmia, and the subject, incapacitated in the water, was unable to save himself."{{cite news|last=Wilson|first=Stan|title=Autopsy attributes Rodney King's death to drowning|url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/23/us/rodney-king-autopsy/index.html|publisher=CNN|access-date=August 23, 2012|date=August 23, 2012}}

Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at King's funeral. King is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.{{cite web |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/mourners-arrive-for-rodney-king-service-at-forest-lawn-hollywood-hills-.html |title=Mourners arrive for Rodney King service at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills |last1=Curwen |first1=Thomas |last2=Banks |first2=Sandy |date=June 30, 2012 |website=Los Angeles Times |access-date=September 13, 2014 }}{{cite web |url=http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/06/30/al-sharpton-to-deliver-eulogy-at-rodney-kings-funeral/ |title=Rodney King Laid To Rest At Forest Lawn |date=June 30, 2012 |website=CBS Los Angeles |publisher=CBS |access-date=September 13, 2014 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.newsday.com/news/nation/rodney-king-honored-at-his-funeral-e12125 |title=Rodney King honored at his funeral |date=June 30, 2014 |website=Newsday |access-date=September 13, 2014 }}

Legacy

King has become a symbol of police brutality, but his family remembers him as a "human, not a symbol."{{Cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rodney-king-legacy-20160303-story.html|title=Rodney King's daughter remembers a human being, not a symbol|last=Jennings|first=Angel|date=March 3, 2016|access-date=November 26, 2016}} King never advocated for hatred or violence against the police, pleading, "Can we all get along?"{{Cite news|last=Kiner|first=Deb|date=May 1, 2019|title=On this day in 1992 Rodney King asked, 'Can't we all just get along?'|work=Penn Live|url=https://www.pennlive.com/nation-world/2019/05/on-this-day-in-1992-rodney-king-asked-cant-we-all-just-get-along.html|access-date=March 26, 2021}} Since his death, his daughter, Lora King, has worked with the LAPD to build bridges between the police and the black community.{{Cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rodney-king-daughter-lapd_us_57dfec04e4b04a1497b564b0|title=Rodney King's Daughter Stands With LAPD 25 Years After Dad's Beating|date=September 19, 2016|work=Huffington Post|access-date=November 26, 2016}} She also started a nonprofit, the Rodney King Foundation, on behalf of King.{{cite web|url=https://rodneyking.org/about-us/|title=About Us|website=Rodney King Foundation |access-date=March 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309202605/https://rodneyking.org/about-us/|archive-date=March 9, 2021|url-status=live}}

In popular culture

=Films=

The 1992 film Malcolm X includes a snippet of the Rodney King video.
The 1993 film Psycho Cop 2 parodies the King incident, in which the antagonist Joe Vickers is beaten down by bar patrons as a bystander videotapes the scene from his apartment balcony.{{cite web|author=Blacula |url=http://www.blackhorrormovies.com/psychocop2.htm |title=Psycho Cop Returns (AKA Psycho Cop 2) (1993) |publisher=Black Horror Movies |date= |access-date=February 21, 2022}}
The 1994 film Natural Born Killers has a media montage that contains footage of King's plea to get along.
The 1996 film Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood depicts a parody, which shows police officers playing a "Beat Rodney King" video arcade game titled "Rodney's Ride" in the police station.
The 1997 film Riot dissects the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict and the ensuing riots through four narratives.
An extended discussion on the subject led by Edward Norton is part of the 1998 film American History X.
The 1999 documentary film The Rodney King Incident: Race and Justice in America, produced and directed by Michael Pack, features an interview with Rodney King.
The 2003 American crime thriller Dark Blue starring Kurt Russell opens with footage of the assault on King.{{cite web |last=Travers |first=Ben |date=April 24, 2017 |title=How Kurt Russell Redefined Heroism in 'Dark Blue,' an LA Riots Story 15 Years Ahead of Its Time| url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/04/kurt-russell-dark-blue-la-riots-movie-hero-1201807699/ |website=IndieWire |access-date=October 21, 2020 |language=en}}
The beating of King and the riots that followed were also mentioned in the 2015 film Straight Outta Compton, a biopic about the rap group NWA.{{Cite magazine |title=Ice Cube: 'Police Have Become Our Worst Bullies' |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6663762/ice-cube-police-brutality-nwa-straight-outta-compton-interview |magazine=Billboard}}
The 2017 film Rodney King, a one-man show produced by Spike Lee, alternately takes and opposes King's side.
The 2017 film Kings takes place in South Los Angeles during the riots.{{cite web |last=Henderson |first=Odie |date=April 27, 2018 |title=Kings movie review & film summary |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/kings-2018 |access-date=October 21, 2020 |website=RogerEbert.com |language=en}}
The 2017 film LA 92 is a documentary film about the 1992 Los Angeles riots.
The 2021 film King Richard includes news coverage of the beating.

=Television=

Doogie Howser, M.D. Season 4, Episode 1 titled "There's a Riot Going On" takes place during the aftermath of the riots. The episode was released September 23, 1992.
Boston Legal Season 1, episode 15, titled "Tortured Souls", features footage of King and discussion of the trials of the officers that followed. It aired in February 2005.
Roseanne Season 9, episode 9, titled "Roseambo", features King in a guest appearance in the tag scene. The scene can be found on the DVD's but has been edited out of syndication prints.
The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story opens with footage of the beating and subsequent riots in Los Angeles.{{Cite news |last=Henderson |first=Danielle |date=February 2, 2016 |title='The People v. O.J. Simpson' Premiere: The 'Trial of the Century' Retold (Published 2016) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/02/arts/television/the-people-v-oj-simpson-american-crime-story-episode-1-recap.html |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=October 21, 2020}}
The beating was also depicted in Season 3, Episode 7 of the TV show 9-1-1.
S.W.A.T. (2017 TV series) season 4 Episode 1 titled "3 Seventeen Year Olds", references this incident.

=Music=

In 1991, Ice Cube's album; Death Certificate featured a song titled "Alive On Arrival", in which Ice Cube mentions not wanting to go out like Rodney King.
In 1992, Body Count which the group is fronted by Ice-T released "Cop Killer" on the group's self-titled debut album. The recorded version mentions then-Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates, and Rodney King. Shortly after the release of Body Count, a jury acquitted the officers and riots broke out in South Central Los Angeles. Following its release, the song was met with opposition, with critics ranging from President George H. W. Bush to various law enforcement agencies, with demands for the song's withdrawal from commercial availability, citing concerns of promoting anti-police sentiment. Ice-T defended the lyrical content of the song as did various other proponents who did not believe that the song posed any risk and remained in support of the song continuing to be released and sold.
In 1992, Dr. Dre released "The Day The Niggaz Took Over" on his debut studio album The Chronic, a song that refers to the looting, rioting, and anger that occurred after the police who had beaten King were found not guilty of most charges.
In 1992, Lucky People Center released "Rodney King", a single featuring sampled dialogue and with the video including the footage of the incident.
In 1992, Showbiz & A.G. released a song titled "Represent" on their debut studio album; Runaway Slave, which included a line by Big L referencing the beating of Rodney King.
In 1993, Vaginal Jesus released an Album titled "Beat Rodney Down", in reference to the incident.
In 1992, Willie D released a song titled "Rodney K." on his album I'm Goin' Out Lika Soldier, where he raps about wanting to murder King due to him allegedly being a "sell-out".
The Billy Idol song "Shock to the System" refers to what happened to Rodney King. It was featured in his 1993 album Cyberpunk.
The Boo Radleys 1993 album Giant Steps features a song called "Rodney King".
In 1993, Italian rapper Frankie Hi-NRG MC referenced Rodney King in the track "Libri di sangue" from his album Verba manent. The song is a critique of societal injustices, with references to sexism, racism, and intolerance towards immigrants, foreigners, and those considered "different" in general
The 1993 song "This Little Pig" by Living Colour includes the sample "Fifty-six times in eighty-one seconds. Something like this", taken from politician Bill Bradley discussing the blows of the four police officers beating King.{{cite magazine|title=Bill Bradley: Can He Get Into the Game?|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bill-bradley-can-he-get-game/|website=The Nation |date=June 17, 1999 |last1=Corn |first1=David }}
In 1994, Dog Eat Dog released their album All Boro Kings which includes the song "Who's the King" that refers to Rodney King, his "Why can't we all get along" motto, and the police violence.
In 1996, Michael Jackson released as a second music video for his single "They Don't Care About Us". The music video features several references to human right violations, and contains real footage of police attacking African Americans including footage of King's assault.
The 1996 Sublime song "April 29, 1992" was written about the riots resulting from the King incident.
The 1997 song "Walkin' on the Sun" by Smash Mouth was written about the riots that followed King's assault.{{cite web|url=https://genius.com/Smash-mouth-walkin-on-the-sun-lyrics|title=Smash Mouth – Walkin' on the Sun|via=genius.com}}
The 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles by Rage Against the Machine also refers to the riot which followed King's assault.
The 2004 song "Playboy" by Lloyd Banks on his debut album The Hunger For More mentions Rodney King.
The 2008 song "Mrs. Officer" by Lil Wayne on his sixth studio album, Tha Carter III mentions Rodney King.
The 2012 song "Get Along" by Guy Sebastian on his seventh album, Armageddon has King's "Can't we all just get along?" quote as the main line of the song.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3uECrlA2rU&list=UUtCiNvGaEzw5BAoIKZHNbPA&index=1&feature=plpp_video Guy Sebastian – Documentary of the Making of 'Get Along']. YouTube. Retrieved November 21, 2012
The 2012 song "New God Flow" by Pusha T and Kanye West references him.
The 2012 song "A Wake" by Macklemore also refers to the King trial and subsequent riots.
The 2017 song "Send Me To War" by Dumbfoundead also refers to the riots and police brutality.
In 2018, Fever 333's song "Burn It" also mentions about Rodney King and the fights surrounding the assault.
In 2023, Fall Out Boy covered Billy Joel's 1989 hit song "We Didn't Start the Fire". Rodney King and the riots are mentioned in the cover.

=Theatre=

Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 is a one-woman play written and originally performed by Anna Deavere Smith about the riots following the Rodney King verdict.
The 2014 one-man play Rodney King by Roger Guenveur Smith is about King.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/in-roger-guenveur-smiths-rodney-king-a-whispered-evocation-of-the-la-riots/2014/07/11/10ac5c34-090f-11e4-ba5b-b9d8a4daba13_story.html|title=In Roger Guenveur Smith's 'Rodney King,' a whispered evocation of the L.A. riots|last=Wren|first=Celia|date=July 11, 2014|newspaper=The Washington Post|language=en-US|issn=0190-8286|access-date=November 26, 2016}}

=Literature=

The 2020 novel Heal the Hood by Adaeze Nkechi Nwosu is about Rodney King's beating and the subsequent riots.
The 2020 short story "The Last Days of Rodney" by Tracey Rose Peyton takes on King's final days and his death.

=Other=

Neighbor Nahshon Dion Anderson, an award-winning writer and a family friend, observed the aftermath of the beating and recounted the details in an unpublished and untitled memoir. In 2025, she won a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist award of $10k for a chapter based on Rodney King.{{Cite news|url=https://m.fergusfallsjournal.com/2019/02/springboard-for-the-arts-welcomes-writer-to-residency/|title=Springboard for the Arts welcomes writer to residency – The Fergus Falls Daily Journal|date=February 8, 2019|work=The Fergus Falls Daily Journal|access-date=June 11, 2019|language=en-US|archive-date=August 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817042003/https://m.fergusfallsjournal.com/2019/02/springboard-for-the-arts-welcomes-writer-to-residency/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://nahshondionanderson.com/index.html|website=Nahshon Dion Anderson |access-date=January 28, 2023|title=Biography }}{{cite web | url=https://rockthebells.com/articles/2pac-murder-nahshon-dion/ | title=The Eventuality of Justice: Thoughts on the Arrest of Tupac's Alleged Killer }}{{Cite web |date=November 6, 2024 |title= New York State Council on the Arts Grants Award List|url=https://nysca.org/downloads/files/FY2025_Grant_Award_List.pdf |access-date=December 22, 2024 |website=arts.ny.gov/ |language=en-US}}

References

External links

{{sister project links|d=Q338389|c=category:Rodney King|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|s=no|species=no}}

Rodney King: [https://vault.fbi.gov/rodney-king/video/rodney-king-video Video of Arrest (March 3, 1991)] and FBI [https://vault.fbi.gov/rodney-king/ Case Files] in the Rodney King Archive at [https://vault.fbi.gov/ FBI Records: The Vault] (Freedom of Information Act/Privacy Act Archive)
{{NYTtopic|people/k/rodney_glen_king|Rodney King}}
{{Guardian topic}}
[http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/kingarrests.html Rodney King's Arrest Record]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20090502084012/http://laist.com/2009/04/29/meet_rodney_king.php Rodney King: 17 Years After the Riots"], Laist.com
Kavanagh, Jim. "[http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/03/03/rodney.king.20.years.later/index.html Rodney King, 20 years later]". CNN. March 3, 2011.
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