Rodney King in photos: The man whose police beating shone a light on racism in Los Angeles
RODNEY King has died. King became famous when he was beaten up by those fine upstanding men of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991. They clubbed him more than 50 times with their batons. King says the police told him, “We are going to kill you nigger.” An amateur cameraman filmed the merciless brutality. King, who had been drinking while out on parole, had tried to outrun the police. Realising it was futile, he pulled over. He got out of his car. He was unarmed.
When the all-white jury cleared the four all-white police officers of behaving illegally when they beat up the black man, riots erupted. The mayhem led to 53 deaths.
Rodney King got a $3.8m payout. Two of the officers were later convicted.
King bought a place in Rialto, California. His body was found in the bottom of his swimming pool. He was 47.
In his memoir The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption, King noted:
“I sometimes feel like I’m caught in a vise. 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.”
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Rodney King shows off his bruises in Los Angeles, in this March 6, 1991 photo. The Philadelphia mayor and the police department came under fire Thursday over the videotaped beating of a black man by a group of officers. Police Commissioner John Timoney rejected any comparison to the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles in 1991, noting that King was wanted for a traffic violation, was unarmed and offered no resistance to officers who clubbed him with batons. All four officers were white; two were eventually convicted of federal civil rights charges. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
Posted: 18th, June 2012 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
