Police Brutality In The LA Riots

Though sparked by the Rodney King verdict, there were many other causes of the riots that erupted on the streets of Los Angeles on April 29, 1992. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 were devastating. The obvious issue portrayed through the media was black versus white. If you did not live in Los Angeles or California chances are you did not hear full coverage of the story, you heard a simple cut and dry portrayal of the events in South Central. If you heard one thing about the riots, it was that there was a man named Rodney King and he was a black male beaten with excessive force by four white Los Angeles police officers on Los Angeles concrete. The media portrayed the riots as black rage on the streets due to the

Throughout police history in the United States and around the world there have been numerous incidents of reported police brutality and other forms of corruption including taking bribes, theft, sexual deviance, and many more. In our present time corruption has decreased significantly from what it once was decades ago but still exists. One of the most publicized cases of police brutality, if not the most, was the beating of Rodney King. Most people have heard about the case and seen the video of the brutal beating that took place in Los Angeles on the night of March 2, 1991. The video shown to the public contained officers appearing to beat Mr. King while he is on the ground while

The most controversial topic of the ending year of 2014, and the beginning year of 2015, the Ferguson, Missouri police brutality case. Not only has the topic of police brutality been strongly talked about in the recent years, it has also been acknowledged in the late 1900’s and early 2000’s. I understand that in some cases police brutality may be very true, but I don’t believe it should be something blown out of proportion just because a white cop wounded or shot an African American individual. Police brutality is very much over exaggerated in our generation, I believe a police officer should use whatever force they have to for their protection.

Not only has Police Brutality exposed hidden racism, but it has begun to cause separation in our nation. All of these Police Brutality cases such as Alton Sterling, Mike Brown, and Trayvon Martin just to name a few, all have happened within the last 3 years, and they were all documented on camera, exposing the reality to millions around the world. The conflict didn’t stop at the shootings though, many big-name Athletes stood up for the altercations and asked for attention. I am going to go over each individual shooting, the athletes that stood up for them, and political leaders that spoke on it.

The story of Rodney King began on October 3, 1991, when King ran from the police, and then was brutally beaten by three police officers. The beating was captured by a nearby citizen, and it “...immediately

On March 3, 1991 Rodney King led the Los Angeles police on a high speed chase. Once the chase was over officers pulled King out of his vehicle and began to brutally beat,taze and stomp on him. The recording of the video taken by a witness standing on the other side of the street was locally broadcasted then nationally broadcasted.The reasons that police officers acted the way they did was because “Rodney King was driving while intoxicated and when officers attempted to arrest him, the large belligerent man resisted that arrest.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou ) It was already said that King had a criminal record of second degree robbery and out on parole so the officers were aware of who he was by now. I also believe that racial profiling was another factor that caused the police officers to act they way that they did. As stated by Connie Rice a lawyer and civil rights activist , “The LAPD at the time was almost an occupying force, partially biased against people of color.” (Sastry & Bates) Personally, I do not believe that the officers acted in an appropriate matter because instead of pulling him from his car and brutally beating him they should've just gone up to him and arrested him. I understand that he was seen as a threat during this time because of the high speed chase but there were other ways that they could have handled the situation. The use of forces that could have been appropriate for this situation were verbal commands, maybe a bit of empty hand control with the soft empty hand technique and if he resisted then that is when the use of less lethal force would of been used. Also they found out that in the first three seconds of the film were cut of and showed that “Rodney King rising up from the street to charge one officer in a clear-cut violent assault. In self defense, that officer struck King with his PR-24.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou.) Now with this new information I believe that the officer had a right to defend himself however not to the extent that they all went. Hitting King ith the PR-24 would have caused him to fall and during that time they could have arrested him instead. According to Biography.com, “The United States Department of Justice filed federal civil rights charges

Rodney King was a black motorist who was beaten and arrested by four white police officers in Los Angeles on March 3, 1991. The policemen were unaware of being filmed until, George Holliday, captured the beating on videotape from his apartment window and released it to the press (Alexander, Jacobs, and Seidman, 2000). This incident was not a shock to individuals living in the Los Angeles County as it was common to be victimized by policemen. The difference in Rodney King’s case with other

On April 28, 1992, several riots erupted throughout Los Angeles, California due to the unjust trial when several officers were caught on video brutally beating Mr. Rodney King on the street. Thousands of African-Americans were unhappy with the decision of the court allowing the four officers to get off with no charges. During the LA Riots, over 55 people were killed, 2,000 were injured, and 7,000 were put into police custody. It was nearly $1 billion in damages done to property and 4,000 buildings in the city were burned. The three days of the LA Riots will be remembered in history because of the police brutality, national reaction to the violence, and the people's

March 3rd, 1991. A day that has lived on in infamy for more than 20 years. Rodney King was just a normal 25-year old guy who had a family, a job, people who loved him. He had work the next day, so he decided to pop open some beers with one of his friends. According to King, around the time of 20th anniversary of the LA riots, “I know drinking and driving is not OK, and I shouldn't have been back then, and there's no excuse for it. But I had a job to go to that Monday, and so I went over to a friend's house and popped a couple of beers. We were just sitting around awhile, and I decided to go to a spot where my dad used to take us fishing called Hansen Dam in California.” (Martin 3) King then said he saw the patrol car behind him and for no apparent reason at all did not pull over on the side of the road, as people are supposed to do with cops. He finally pulled over and got out, and the cops tasered him with 50,000 volts. Three officers then started to beat the crap out of King, hitting him in the head, neck, kidneys, and legs, over 50 times. The beating was recorded by a passerby, and sent out to every major news outlet in the country. However, this is only part of the context surrounding the case of the Rodney King beating.

On March 3, 1991, four white police officers started beating 27 year old Rodney King after pulling him over for drunk driving. Two of the officers involved with the arrest of King had histories with violence towards suspects. Douglas Linder, professor of law at the University of Missouri at Kansas City states, “Los Angeles had settled one excessive force claim against Powell for $70,000 …” and “Briseno had once earlier been charged with using excessive force” (Linder “Key Figures”). Half of the police officers involved were previously charged with the use of excessive force, the same charge brought up by the Rodney King Beating Trials. A video, captured by George Holliday showed most of the beating by the police officers, and was a major source of testimony in the trial. African American Eras: Contemporary Times claims that, “Holliday recorded an arrest scene in which the officers beat King with their nightsticks at least fifty-six times” (Condino “Black Community”).The officers did not originally know this video

relationship with police. The officers involved have been placed on desk duty and their guns

In March of 1991, Rodney King’s life changed forever. He was pulled over by the LAPD after a high-speed chase late at night. The police then used force, pulled him out of his car and brutally beat him with deadly weapons. “However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers, inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots.” (Rodney King Biography). This was a huge social topic in the 1990’s and still is today. After this incidence is affected his life tremendously. He had problems with other charges and offences following

the United States. For many decades, people in African American communities have been subjected to violence by those in the law enforcement in the United States. Many U.S. citizens defines if the law enforcements are performing their job correctly. Examples of police brutality in America are: unjustified shootings, and severe beatings are rough treatments that have contributed to the problem. Police brutality occurs in prisons, where the prisoners are mistreated, because it becomes case of authority. The fact of the matters is that most of the incidents go unreported or unnoticed. Police brutality have been unfortunately common towards many African Americans. On March 3, 1991, in California, Rodney King an African American, was pulled over after a high-speed chase. He was then stopped and beaten by four white police officers. In the article Racism Causes Police Brutality, the author Salim Muwakkil comments, "The troubled relationship between blacks and the police has erupted sporadically in violence: Most of the ‘long hot summer’ riots during the ‘60s were sparked by charges of police brutality” (2). The long hot summer were riots about race in 1967 that took place in many areas in the United States. These riots are in causes many African Americans in the cities be caught with and unending cycle of physical violence. Racism could be the cause of police brutality that happens in African American communities. A way to stop police brutality from occurring is by protesting at

"On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was the driver of a car in Los Angeles, California. The driver didn't stop when signaled by a police car behind him, but increased his speed. When police finally stopped the car, they delivered 56 baton blows and six kicks to King, in a period of two minutes, producing 11 skull fractures, brain damage, and kidney damage. Unaware that the incident had been videotaped, the police officers filed inaccurate reports, not mentioning the fact that Rodney King was left with head wounds. On March 15, 1991, four police officers were arraigned on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force" (Mike Lepore).

On March 3, 1991in Los Angeles, California went down in history as a landmark time that changed the conditions on law enforcement and the use of excessive force. Who would have thought that a basic routine traffic stop would change policing and racial relationship not only in Los Angeles, but in the United States? Rodney King on the night of March 3rd, 1991 was stopped and removed from his car after an alleged speed chase by the Los Angeles Police Department. He was pulled from his car and brutally beaten by the striking of police batons, Tasers were used several times, and he was also kicked by officers who were present during the altercation. This case did receive a lot of attention due to the fact that a citizen at the time was able to videotape eighty-one seconds as this activity was in the process. The footage from the videotape showed Rodney King enduring unpleasant contact from the officers at least fifty-six times. The individual that was videotaping the incident saw that it was necessary to hand it over to one of the local news broadcast. Once it was aired on the local news it sparked an outrage in Los Angeles and across the country. On the fifteenth day of March, 1991 four Los Angeles police officers were indicted