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Rodney King
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Rodney King
King in April 2012
Born
Rodney Glen King
(1965-04-02)April 2, 1965
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Died
June 17, 2012(2012-06-17) (aged 47)
Rialto, California, U.S.
Cause of death
Drowning, precipitated by cardiac arrhythmia, drug use and alcohol intoxication
Burial place
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, U.S.
Occupation
Author, Activist
Known for
Victim of a police brutality case that led public protests and riots.
Notable work
The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption
Spouse(s)
Daneta Lyles
(m. 1985; div. 1988)

Crystal Waters
(m. 1989; div. 1996)
Partner(s)
Cynthia Kelley[1]
(2010–2012; his death)
Family
Keith Powers (cousin)
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was an American taxi driver and victim of police brutality by the Los Angeles Police Department. On March 3, 1991, King was violently beaten by LAPD officers during his arrest for speeding on California State Route 210. A civilian, George Holliday, filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage to local news station KTLA. The footage clearly showed King being beaten repeatedly, and the incident was covered by news media around the world.
The four officers were tried on charges of use of excessive force; three were totally 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 African Americans over the verdicts and longstanding social issues. The rioting lasted six days, during which 63 people were killed and 2,373 were injured; it ended only after the California Army National Guard, the United States Army, and the United States Marine Corps provided reinforcements to re-establish control.
The federal government prosecuted a separate civil rights case, obtaining grand jury indictments for violations by the four officers of King's civil rights. Their trial in a federal district court ended on April 16, 1993, with two of the officers being found guilty and sentenced to prison. The other two were acquitted of the charges. The city of Los Angeles awarded King $3.8 million in damages, in a separate suit. He struggled to start a business, but was not successful. He was found dead in his swimming pool two months after publishing his memoir.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Marriage and family
3 1991 police incident in Los Angeles
3.1 Beating
3.2 Holliday video
4 Post-arrest events
4.1 Aftermath
4.2 Charges against Police Officers and trial
4.3 Christopher Commission
5 Los Angeles riots and the aftermath
6 Federal trial of officers
7 Later life
8 The Riot Within
9 Death
10 Legacy
11 In popular culture
12 See also
13 References
14 Citations
15 Further reading
16 External links
Early life[edit]
King was born in Sacramento, California in 1965, the son of Ronald and Odessa King. He and his four siblings grew up in Altadena, California.[2][3] King attended John Muir High School and often talked about being inspired by his social science teacher, Robert E. Jones.[4] King's father died in 1984[5] at the age of 42; he had been a violent alcoholic.[3]
On November 3, 1989, King robbed a store in Monterey Park, California. He threatened the Korean store owner with an iron bar, and hit him with a wooden pole. King stole two hundred dollars in cash during the robbery. He was caught, convicted, and sentenced to two years imprisonment. He was released on December 27, 1990, after serving one year in prison.[3]
Marriage and family[edit]
While still a teenager, King fathered a daughter with his girlfriend Carmen Simpson. He later married Danetta Lyles (cousin to rapper Mack 10) and fathered a daughter. King and Lyles were eventually divorced. He later married and fathered a daughter with Crystal Waters. This marriage also ended in divorce.[5][6]
1991 police incident in Los Angeles[edit]
Early in the morning of March 3, 1991, King, with his friends Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving a 1987 Hyundai Excel/Mitsubishi Precis 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.[7] 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, and the pursuit reached high speeds, while King refused to pull over.[8][9] King later admitted he tried to outrun the police because a charge of driving under the influence would violate his parole for his previous robbery conviction.[10]
King left the freeway near the Hansen Dam Recreation Center and the pursuit continued through residential streets at speeds ranging from 55 to 80 miles per hour (90 to 130 km/h).[11][12] By this point, several police cars and a police helicopter had joined in the pursuit. After approximately 8 miles (13 km), officers cornered King in his car near the corner of Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street (34°16′23″N 118°23′34″W / 34.273154°N 118.392762°W / 34.273154; -118.392762). The first five Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers to arrive were Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, and Rolando Solano.[13]
Beating[edit]
Screenshots of King lying down and being beaten by LAPD officers
Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and to lie face down on the ground. Allen claims he was manhandled, kicked, stomped, taunted, and threatened.[14] Helms was hit in the head while lying on the ground; he was treated for a laceration on the top of his head.[15] His bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. King remained in the car. When he emerged, he was reported to have been gagged, to have patted the ground, and waved to the police helicopter overhead.[12] King grabbed his buttocks, which Officer Melanie Singer took to mean King was reaching for a weapon,[16] though he was later found to be unarmed.[17] 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.[18]
LAPD officers are taught to approach a suspect without his/her gun drawn, as there is a risk that any suspect may gain control of it if an officer gets too close.[19] 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." This involves multiple officers grabbing a suspect with empty hands, in order to quickly overcome potential resistance. As four officers attempted to restrain King, King resisted by standing to remove Officers Powell and Briseno from his back. The officers later testified that they believed King was under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP),[20] although King's toxicology tested negative for the drug.[21]
Holliday video[edit]
Screenshot of King being beaten by LAPD officers
King was twice tasered by Koon. This marks the approximate start of the period that George Holliday videotaped. In the tape, King is seen on the ground. He rises and rushes toward Powell—as argued in court, either to attack Powell or to flee—and King and Powell collided in the rush.[22] 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, "That's enough." King rises again, to his knees; Powell and Wind are seen hitting King with their batons.[citation needed]
External video
3/7/91: Video of Rodney King beaten by police.
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, who was already subdued. 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 six 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 cordcuffs, 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.[citation needed]
Holliday shot a videotape of the incident on his camcorder from his apartment near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street in Lake View Terrace. Two days later, Holliday called LAPD headquarters at Parker Center to let the police department know that he had a videotape of the incident, but he could not find anyone who was interested in seeing the video. He went to KTLA television with his videotape. The station cut ten seconds of the video, before the image was in focus, that showed an extremely blurry shot of King charging at the officers. Later members of the jury said that this cut footage was essential to their decision to acquit the officers.[23] 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."[24]
The Holliday video of the Rodney King arrest is a fairly early example of modern surveillance, wherein civilians, with the aid of increasingly sophisticated and affordable video equipment, record significant events. 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.[25]
Post-arrest events[edit]
Aftermath[edit]
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.[26] 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".[27] Blood and urine samples taken from King five hours after his arrest showed that he would have been intoxicated under California law at the time of his arrest. 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.[26] 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.[30]
Charges against Police Officers and trial[edit]
The Los Angeles County District Attorney subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force.[31] 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.[32] The jury was composed of nine whites, one bi-racial male,[33] one Latino, and one Asian American.[34] The prosecutor, Terry White, was black.[35][36]
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.[34] 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.[37][38]
The first two seconds of videotape,[39] 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 prior to the starting point of the videotape, but King was able to physically throw them off.[40]
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.[41]
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 done, they lit the fuse to a bomb."[42]
Christopher Commission[edit]
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.[43]
Los Angeles riots and the aftermath[edit]
Main article: 1992 Los Angeles riots
Though few people at first considered race an important factor in the case, including Rodney King's attorney, Steven Lerman, the Holliday videotape was at the time stirring deep resentment among African Americans in Los Angeles, as well as 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 Latino, one Asian. Lead prosecutor Terry White was African American. On April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted three of the officers but could not agree on one of the charges against Powell.[7]
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."[44] 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."[45]
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 along with the Latino communities. 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 in neighboring Nevada, Seattle in Washington state, and as far east as Atlanta in Georgia and New York City. A minor riot erupted on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada as a result of the acquittals.
During the riots, on May 1, 1992,[46] King made a television appearance in which he said,
I just want to say – you know – 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. [46]
The widely quoted line has been often paraphrased as, "Can we all just get along?" or "Can't we all just get along?"
Federal trial of officers[edit]
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.[47]
The federal trial focused more on the incident.[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.[48] 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.[7][49]
During the three-hour sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John 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.[50]
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.[50] 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."[51]
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 nonetheless raised "the specter of unfairness".[50]
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 case was appealed by the defense to the U.S. Supreme Court. Both Koon and Powell were released from prison while they appealed 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 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.[52]
Later life[edit]
King with fiancée Cynthia Kelly in April 2012, two months before his death. Kelly was one of the jurors in King's civil suit against the city of Los Angeles when he was awarded $3.8 million.
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley offered King $200,000 and a four-year college education funded by the city of Los Angeles.[53] King refused and sued the city, winning $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.[54] The estate of Freddie Helms, the other passenger, settled for $20,000; Helms died in a car accident on June 29, 1991, aged 20, in Pasadena.[55] 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.[56] He later wrote a memoir (with help of a ghostwriter) and made a movie about his life.[citation needed]
King was subject to further arrests and convictions for driving violations after the 1991 incident, as he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. On August 21, 1993, he crashed his car into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles.[57] 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, he was arrested by Alhambra police after hitting his wife with his car and knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run.[58]
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.[59] On November 29, 2007, while riding home on his bicycle,[53] 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 him when he rode away.[58] Police described the wounds as looking as if they came from birdshot.[60]
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 addiction was treated.[61] King also appeared on Sober House, a Celebrity Rehab spin-off focusing on a sober living environment.[62] During his time on Celebrity Rehab and Sober House, King worked on his addiction and what he said was lingering trauma of the beating. He 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.[63]
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".[64] King won a celebrity boxing match against Chester, Pennsylvania police officer Simon Aouad on September 11, 2009, at the Ramada Philadelphia Airport in Essington.[65]
On September 9, 2010, it was confirmed that King was going to marry Cynthia Kelly, who had been a juror in the civil suit he brought against the City of Los Angeles.[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.[66][67] This arrest led to a February 2012 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving.[68]
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."[69]
The Riot Within[edit]
In April 2012, King published his memoir, The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption.[70] 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.[71]
Death[edit]
On June 17, 2012, Cynthia Kelly found King lying underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool.[72][73] Police in Rialto received a 911 call from Kelly at about 5:25 a.m. (PDT).[74][75] Responding officers removed King from the pool and attempted to revive him. He was transferred by ambulance to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California and was pronounced dead on arrival at 6:11 a.m. (PDT) 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 he died of accidental drowning. The combination of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana found in his system were contributing factors. 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."[76][77] Rev. Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at King's funeral. King is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles County, California.[78][79][80]
Legacy[edit]
Rodney King has become a symbol of police brutality, but his family remembers him as a "human not a symbol".[81] King never advocated for hatred or violence against the police, saying that we needed to "all get along". He made this his foundation for the rest of his life. Since his death, his daughter Lori King has worked with the LAPD to build bridges between the police and the African-American community.[82] She also started a non profit: The Rodney King Foundation for Social Justice and Human Rights, on behalf of her father.[83]
In popular culture[edit]
The beating of Rodney King and its aftermath has been addressed frequently in art, including the 1997 film Riot, an extended discussion on the subject led by Edward Norton in the 1998 film American History X, the 2014 one-man play Rodney King by Roger Guenveur Smith,[84] which has been produced by Spike Lee and released on Netflix in 2017; and the 2016 exhibit Viral: 25 Years from Rodney King.[85] Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary will be producing a docuseries through their company Revelations Entertainment on the life of Rodney King, to be released in 2018.[86] The beating is also briefly mentioned in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and Law & Order True Crime where Rodney King's case is referenced as the main reason for the outcome of the cases these two anthology miniseries are based on.
See also[edit]
History of African Americans in Los Angeles
Los Angeles portal
African American portal
1990s portal
References[edit]
Cannon, Lou (1999). Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. ISBN 9780813337258. OCLC 42852365.
Citations[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "Rodney King to marry juror from LA police beating case". BBC News. September 9, 2010.
Jump up ^ Post, Washington (June 18, 2012). "Rodney King, L.A. police beating victim, dies". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 25, 2018.
^ Jump up to: a b c Phil Reeves (February 21, 1993). "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". The Independent. London. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
Jump up ^ King, Rodney (2012). The Riot Within: My Journey From Rebellion to Redemption. Harper One. pp. 12–15.
^ Jump up to: a b "Obits, Rodney King". The Telegraph. United Kingdom. June 17, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King". BuddyTV.com. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b c Linder, Douglas (December 2001). "The Rodney King Beating Trials". JURIST. Archived from the original on December 3, 2009. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
Jump up ^ Linder, Douglas (2001). "The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers' in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King". University of Missouri–Kansas City. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
Jump up ^ "STACEY C. KOON, PETITIONER 94-1664 v. UNITED STATES". University of Missouri–Kansas City. June 13, 1996. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
Jump up ^ Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 43.
Jump up ^ Mydans, Seth; Stevenson, Richard W.; Egan, Timothy (March 18, 1991). "Seven Minutes in Los Angeles – A special report.; Videotaped Beating by Officers Puts Full Glare on Brutality Issue". The New York Times. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Whitman, David (May 23, 1993). "The Untold Story of the LA Riot". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
Jump up ^ David Whitman. "The Untold Story of the LA Riot". US News & World Report.
Jump up ^ "Passenger Describes L.a. Police Beating Of Driver, Calls It Racial". The New York Times. March 21, 1991. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
Jump up ^ Newton, Jim (March 6, 1993). "Prosecutor Says Officers Hit Passenger in King's Car". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 10, 2014.
Jump up ^ Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 27.
Jump up ^ Matiash, Chelsea; Rothman, Lily (March 3, 2016). "Rodney King Beating at 25: What Happened in Los Angeles". TIME. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
Jump up ^ SERRANO, Richard a. (March 18, 1992). "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". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
Jump up ^ Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 28.
Jump up ^ Cannon. Official Negligence:[page needed]
Jump up ^ Cannon, Lou (March 16, 1993). "Prosecution Rests Case in Rodney King Beating Archived March 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Chapter 1: The Rodney King Beating". Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department: p. 6. 1991.
Jump up ^ Steve Myers (March 3, 2011). "How citizen journalism has changed since George Holliday's Rodney King video". Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
Jump up ^ "The Holliday Videotape, George Holliday Video of King Beating". University of Missouri Kansas City Law School.
Jump up ^ PBS.org Archived May 7, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. The ACLU "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 19, 2009. Retrieved November 9, 2008. CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) draw connections between this event and the subsequent activities of many organizations designed to oversee police activities.
^ Jump up to: a b Cannon. Official Negligence: p. 205.
Jump up ^ "Chapter 1: The Rodney King Beating". Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department: p. 8. 1991.
Jump up ^ "Chapter 1: The Rodney King Beating". Report of the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department: p. 15. 1991.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King Is Arrested After a Fight at His Home". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 30, 2005. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Charges Against King Belatedly Dropped". Los Angeles Times. December 23, 1992. Retrieved May 24, 2014.
Jump up ^ Mydans, Seth (March 6, 1992). "Police Beating Trial Opens With Replay of Videotape". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
Jump up ^ Abcarian, Robin (May 7, 2017). "An aggravating anniversary for Simi Valley, where a not-guilty verdict sparked the '92 L.A. riots". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King Juror Talks About His Black Father and Family For the First Time". laist. April 28, 2012. Archived from the original on May 4, 2012. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
^ Jump up to: a b "After the riots; A Juror Describes the Ordeal of Deliberations". The New York Times. May 6, 1992. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Jurist – The Rodney King Beating Trials". Jurist.law.pitt.edu. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
Jump up ^ Law.umkc.edu Archived April 17, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ "Online NewsHour Forum: Authors' Corner with Lou Cannon – April 7, 1998". Pbs.org. Archived from the original on August 12, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
Jump up ^ SERRANO, RICHARD A. (April 30, 1992). "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". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved November 11, 2015.
Jump up ^ doug linder. "videotape". Law.umkc.edu. Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
Jump up ^ The American edition of the National Geographic Channel aired the program "The Final Report: The L.A. Riots" on October 4, 2006 10 pm EDT, approximately 27 minutes into the hour (including commercial breaks).
Jump up ^ Cannon, L. (2002). Official Negligence : How Rodney King and the Riots Changed Los Angeles and the LAPD. Basic Books. ISBN 0-8133-3725-9
Jump up ^ 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).
Jump up ^ "Shielded from Justice: Los Angeles: The Christopher Commission Report". www.hrw.org. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
Jump up ^ Mydans, Seth (April 30, 1992). The videotape was largely thought to have helped inflame the riot. "The Police Verdict; Los Angeles Policemen Acquitted in Taped Beating Archived April 22, 2016, at the Wayback Machine.". The New York Times. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
Jump up ^ Fiske, John (March 1, 1996). Media Matters: Race and Gender in U.S. Politics (paperback) (Paperback)|format= requires |url= (help). Univ Of Minnesota Press; Revised edition. p. 188. ISBN 9780816624638. Bush on LA, extracts from his speech to the nation
^ Jump up to: a b Video of Rodney King's Plea during the 1992 Los Angeles Riots on YouTube. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
Jump up ^ Linder, Doug (2001). "The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers' in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King". law2.umkc.edu. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
Jump up ^ Mydans, Seth (March 10, 2003). "Rodney King Testifies on Beating: 'I Was Just Trying to Stay Alive'". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
Jump up ^ Koon v. United States (94–1664), 518 U.S. 81 (1996)
^ Jump up to: a b c Newton, Jim (August 5, 1993). "Koon, Powell get two and half years in prison". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
Jump up ^ Meyer, Greg (March 10, 2011). "Rodney King, 20 years later". PoliceOne. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
Jump up ^ Greenhouse, Linda (June 14, 1996). "THE SUPREME COURT: SENTENCING;Court Upholds Sentence in King Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
^ Jump up to: a b King, Rodney (2012). The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. HarperCollins Book.
Jump up ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1994-02-08/local/me-20439_1_los-angeles
Jump up ^ http://articles.latimes.com/1991-06-30/local/me-2497_1_night-king
Jump up ^ Madison Gray (May 2007). "The L.A. Riots: 15 Years After Rodney King". Time.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King's Wife Files Petition for Divorce". Los Angeles Times. November 29, 1995. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
^ Jump up to: a b Reston, Maeve (November 30, 2007). "Rodney King shot while riding bike". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King slams SUV into house, breaks pelvis". CNN. April 16, 2003. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007.
Jump up ^ "Report: Rodney King Shot in the Face | Fox News". Retrieved October 5, 2015.
Jump up ^ "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew". TV Guide. June 23, 2008. p. 8.
Jump up ^ "Sober House will follow Celebrity Rehab cast, Andy Dick in sober living". reality blurred.
Jump up ^ Thompson, Elise. "Rodney King Forgives Officers Who Beat Him — LAist". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 30, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, Episode 3.6 ("Triggers")". VH1. February 11, 2010.
Jump up ^ Stamm, Dan (August 19, 2009). "No Plan to 'Get Along' When Rodney King Takes on Former Cop". NBC Philadelphia. Retrieved December 1, 2009.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King stopped after traffic violation, police say". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 2011.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King once again runs afoul of the law, cited for expired license in Arcadia". Pasadena Star-News. June 2012. Archived from the original on April 10, 2011.
Jump up ^ Wilson, Stan (April 12, 2012). "Rodney King pleads for calm in Trayvon Martin case". CNN. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Los Angeles riots: Rodney King funeral held". BBC News. July 1, 2012.
Jump up ^ Grigsby Bates, Karen (April 23, 2012). "Rodney King Comes To Grips With 'The Riot Within'". Morning Edition. Author interview. NPR.
Jump up ^ "Nonfiction Book Review". Publishers Weekly. May 28, 2012. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
Jump up ^ CNN Wire Staff (June 17, 2012). "Rodney King dead at 47". CNN. Retrieved June 17, 2012.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King found dead". CBS News. June 17, 2012.
Jump up ^ "911 call reveals frantic moments, fiancee's pleas after finding Rodney King submerged in pool". The Washington Post. AP. June 18, 2012. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved June 20, 2012.
Jump up ^ Jennifer Medina (June 17, 2012). "Police Beating Victim Who Asked 'Can We All Get Along?'". The New York Times.
Jump up ^ Wilson, Stan (August 23, 2012). "Autopsy attributes Rodney King's death to drowning". CNN. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
Jump up ^ Furek, Maxim W. (February 2015). "The Painful Legacy of Rodney King." Counselor, the Magazine for Addictions and Behavioral health Professionals, 16, (1), 13–16.
Jump up ^ Curwen, Thomas; Banks, Sandy (June 30, 2012). "Mourners arrive for Rodney King service at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King Laid To Rest At Forest Lawn". CBS Los Angeles. CBS. June 30, 2012. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King honored at his funeral". Newsday. June 30, 2014. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
Jump up ^ Jennings, Angel (March 3, 2016). "Rodney King's daughter remembers a human being, not a symbol". Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King's Daughter Stands With LAPD 25 Years After Dad's Beating". Huffington Post. September 19, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Our Mission". The Rodney King Foundation for Social Justice and Human Rights. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
Jump up ^ Wren, Celia (July 11, 2014). "In Roger Guenveur Smith's 'Rodney King,' a whispered evocation of the L.A. riots". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ "VIRAL: SPARKING DIALOGUE AND IMPACTING CHANGE". SPARCinLA. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
Jump up ^ "Rodney King family footage", Variety, 2017
Further reading[edit]
King, Rodney; Lawrence J. Spagnola (2012). The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. New York: HarperOne. ISBN 9780062194435. OCLC 761856270. King's autobiography.
Koon, Stacey C.; Robert Deitz (1992). Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway. ISBN 9780895265074. OCLC 26553041.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rodney King.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rodney King
"Rodney King collected news and commentary". The New York Times.
"Rodney King collected news and commentary". The Guardian.
Rodney King's Arrest Record
Rodney King: 17 Years After the Riots", Laist.com
Kavanagh, Jim. "Rodney King, 20 years later". CNN. March 3, 2011.
Rodney King on IMDb
Rodney King at Find a Grave
Appearances on C-SPAN
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
BNF: cb16527021x (data)
GND: 119201348
ISNI: 0000 0001 2362 7947
LCCN: n2008032573
NARA: 10575412
SNAC: w6c546j4
SUDOC: 167394541
VIAF: 173548440
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rodney_King&oldid=866039645"
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