Rodney King dead at 47

[downtown]

For those who aren't up on your history, Rodney King was the black man in LA who was videotaped as he was beaten by LA cops. After the cops were aquitted, riots broke out in LA, with King going on TV, asking if we could all just get along?

King struggled with substance abuse his whole life, and may have committed suicide.

Rodney King, whose videotaped beating by police ultimately led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, was found dead at the bottom of his pool on Sunday, police said.

Mr. King's fiancée found him at his home in Rialto, Calif., a city about 50 miles east of Los Angeles in San Bernardino County. Police are treating his death as a drowning and said there are no signs of foul play. He was 47.


In 1991, a video showing members of the Los Angeles Police Department beating Mr. King after a freeway chase rocketed across the world, stoking national tensions over race and police brutality. Three of the officers were white and one was Hispanic; Mr. King was black.

The four officers, who struck Mr. King with their batons more than 50 times, were charged with excessive force. A year later, after a jury acquitted three of the officers and failed to reach a verdict on the fourth, widespread riots broke out in South Los Angeles, leaving more than 50 people dead, some 2,500 injured and an estimated $1 billion in property damage. "Can we all get along?" Mr. King told television cameras during the riots. "Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? It's not right. It's not going to change anything." The nation watched for several days on television, and the riots became a flashpoint in race relations in the U.S.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303703004577472562550969038.html

Do you think things have gotten better since then? What is King's legacy?

 

[Disgustipated]

I'm pretty sure white cops are responsible for this. It's time to riot.

 

[Berzerker]

RIP

I doubt it was suicide, probably hit his head swimming or diving

 

[JollyRoger]

RIP (unless he didn't give to charity)

 

[Cutlass]

RIP. Maybe not a great man. But a troubled life that saw too much hell, both from inside and outside.

 

[Patroklos]

All I will say is that it takes a real man to ask everyone to forgive and reconcile in his circumstances. It probably helped that he knew the riots had little to do with him and rather wonton opportunism by unlawful segments of the LA black community. Still, he could have gone somewhere dark and understandably so, but chose a brighter path.

As to the events following his trial, let's not forget about the equally racist and far more severe beating of Reginald Denny (the same assailants also attacked Latinos and Asians that day with racist motives), highlighting racism in the black community that continues to be ignored by their leaders.

 

[El_Machinae]

I really was struck by the sincerity of his 'can't we just get along?' plea. People mock it, and I don't think it deserves to be mocked.

 

[Formaldehyde]

As to the events following his trial, let's not forget about the equally racist and far more severe beating of Reginald Denny (the same assailants also attacked Latinos and Asians that day with racist motives), highlighting racism in the black community that continues to be ignored by their leaders.

Only Reginald Denny wasn't beaten by armed police officers. Fortunately, someone had the foresight to record it. Otherwise, it would have just been another day in the LAPD.

 

[Patroklos]

Reginald Denny also didn't just lead the LAPD on a vehicle chase for the better part of an hour after having broken the law. Do you imagine those black youth would have been brought to justice if Denny's beating wasn't video taped?

But you make the point of ignoring the racism of the black community for me. They were both racist beatings and undeserved, but what happened to Denny was far more of both of those.

 

[JollyRoger]

All I will say is that it takes a real man to ask everyone to forgive and reconcile in his circumstances. It probably helped that he knew the riots had little to do with him and rather wonton opportunism by unlawful segments of the LA black community. Still, he could have gone somewhere dark and understandably so, but chose a brighter path.

As to the events following his trial, let's not forget about the equally racist and far more severe beating of Reginald Denny (the same assailants also attacked Latinos and Asians that day with racist motives), highlighting racism in the black community that continues to be ignored by their leaders.

The black community was merely standing its ground.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Reginald Denny also didn't just lead the LAPD on a vehicle chase for the better part of an hour after having broken the law. Do you imagine those black youth would have been brought to justice if Denny's beating wasn't video taped?

Quite likely because the LAPD doesn't typically ignore the beating of a white man, especially if it wasn't done by the LAPD.

And what possible difference does it make what led to his arrest?

 

[Patroklos]

Your the one that brought up needing video take to get justice, not me. It sad you feel the need to whitewash the racist motives of the near deadly beating of Reginald Denny, why are you doing this?

Do you honestly think those youth would have been turned in without that video? Note the video is the ONLY reasonn they were found (image enhancement found a unique tatoo).

 

[Berzerker]

Denny went into court during their arraignments and forgave them

he was mocked by Repuglican Christians

 

[Formaldehyde]

Your the one that brought up needing video take to get justice, not me.

Only I was obviously discussing what it requires to "get justice" when the LAPD are the criminals. Denny clearly doesn't even have anything to do with this topic, just as what King was doing to be stopped in the first place is completely irrelevant to the vicious beating he received.

 

[Disgustipated]

I really was struck by the sincerity of his 'can't we just get along?' plea. People mock it, and I don't think it deserves to be mocked.

I agree, I always felt it was really sincere, and I was happy he came out and said it. If that was the only good thing he did in his life, it was pretty damn good.

 

[Traitorfish]

racism in the black community

the racism of the black community

You're inching forward, ain't ye?

 

[Ayn Rand]

If only he had been put in prison where he belonged, he might still be alive today. So sad

 

[del62]

Lets get this right if a group of black men beat a white man beacuse he is white then it is equally as bad as a group of white men beating a black man because he is black.

But we are not talking about a generic group of white men, but the law enforcement agency which makes it worse.

 

[Disgustipated]

keep in mind King did lunge at the officers prior to his beating. I'm not saying it justifies the beating, but keep in mind the media did not play that part of the tape when you saw it on the news every night. They only played the "bad" part.

It's not easy being a cop when people attack you. I can understand how some cops lose their temper and beat on a guy. That said, if you lose your temper that easily, you should not be a cop. All of them involved in that beating should be fired immediately.

 

[Formaldehyde]

That isn't really a "lunge", even though Solano claimed it was. It was more of a reaction to being tased and repeatedly beaten. He is crawling on his knees apparently trying to get away from the blows:


Link to video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_King

Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground. The two passengers complied and were taken into custody without incident.[9] King initially remained in the car. When he finally did emerge, he acted bizarrely: giggling, patting the ground, and waving to the police helicopter overhead.[15] King then grabbed his buttocks. Officer Melanie Singer momentarily thought he was reaching for a gun.[16] She drew her gun and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. King complied. Singer approached King with her gun drawn, preparing to make the arrest.

At this point, Sergeant Stacey Koon intervened and ordered Officer Melanie Singer to holster her weapon. LAPD officers are taught not to approach a suspect with a drawn gun, as there is a risk of the suspect gaining control of it if they get too close.[17] Koon then ordered the four other LAPD officers at the scene—Briseno, Powell, Solano and Wind—to subdue and handcuff King in a manner called a "swarm", a technique that involves multiple officers grabbing a suspect with empty hands. As the officers attempted to do so, King physically resisted. King rose up, tossing Officers Powell and Briseno off his back. King then struck Officer Briseno in the chest.[18] Seeing this, Koon ordered all of the officers to fall back. The officers later testified that they believed King was under the influence of the dissociative drug phencyclidine (PCP).[19] King's toxicology results tested negative for PCP.[20]

Use of the taser

Sergeant Koon then ordered the officers to "stand clear." King was standing and was not responding to Koon's commands. Koon then fired a Taser into King's back. King groaned; momentarily fell to his knees; then stood back and yelled for almost five seconds.[21]

Beating with batons: events on the Holliday video

As George Holliday's videotape begins, King is on the ground. He rises and moves toward Powell. (Solano termed it a "lunge," and said it was in the direction of Koon.)[21] At this time, taser wires can be seen coming from King's body. As King moves forward, Officer Powell strikes King with his baton. The blow hits King's head, knocking him to the ground immediately.[22] Powell hits King several additional times with his baton. The videotape shows Briseno moving in to try and stop Powell from swinging, and Powell then backing up. (Koon reportedly yelled "that's enough.") King then rises to his knees; Powell and Wind continue to hit King with their batons while he is on the ground.[23]

I think they clearly overreacted right from the start. There was no reason to "swarm" him when he was already on the ground.

After seeing the video, even the police chief wanted to press criminal charges against some of the officers.