Rodney King Violence

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

In Los Angeles in 1991 Rodney King was driving under the influence of alcohol, and also speeding at excessive high speeds. Around 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King 's car speeding on the Highway. The officers pursued King, and the pursuit attained high speeds, while King refused to pull over. He would later state that he did not pull over because he was attempting to outrun the police because he would violate his parole from a previous robbery conviction for driving under the influence. After king exited the highway there were about five police cars behind him, with a helicopter following. King exited the Highway and was ordered out of the car. His passengers exited first

On April 29, 1992, the City of Los Angeles was surrounded in a riot in response to the "not guilty" verdicts in the trial of four white Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers accused of unlawfully beating Rodney King. Six days later, when the fires were finally extinguished and the smoke had cleared, "estimates of the material damage done vary between about $800 million and $1 billion, 54 people had been killed, more than 2000 injured, in excess of 800 structures were burned, and about 10,000 people were arrested."(Khalifah 89) The 1992 riots in the City of Los Angeles were arguably the most devastating civil disturbance in the history of the United States.

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

African Americans in Los Angeles and throughout the United States have experienced racial oppression for centuries. (Background about racial oppression by the LAPD). Rodney King was an African American motorist who inspired positive police reforms after he had a brutal conflict and was beaten by four members of the LAPD. Rodney King’s encounter resulted in a social and legal compromise because the incident made people aware of police brutality, gave African Americans a voice against police abuse, and resulted in reforms to the way that the LAPD responds to communities of color.

The Watts riots began in the summer of 1965, in a city in Los Angeles called Watts. It all began with the arrest of a young African American by a white California Highway Patrol officer. Now, it was not because he was arrested for already doing something illegal, it was for the way the police officer treated the individual. According to Lacine Holland, an eyewitness to the arrest, the officer “took him and threw him in the car like a bag of laundry and kicked his feet in and slammed the door.” (Flournoy) This caused lots of unrest among the fellow residents of Watts. This was just the beginning of years of pent up oppression for the minorities, which participated in the event. Similarly, in 1992, the Rodney King riots also arose due to the acquittal of four Los Angeles Police Department officers for their brutal beating

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

Many of the changes had been needed for years, but were never addressed. “The king beating and trial set in motion overdue reforms in the LAPD and that had a ripple effect of law enforcement throughout the country” (Deutsch). Since this had such a major effect on the lapd in almost destroyed their reputation. The Rodney King beating almost destroyed the reputation of the Los Angeles Police Department.

Los Angeles witnessed a high amount of drug incidents and violence, which arose from the increasing drug problem. Unfortunately as the same time the nation witnessed a rise in the drug problem, it also saw a rise in police brutality. Throughout Los Angles and America there were many cases of police beatings, but there wasn’t any case that received as much attention and media coverage as the Rodney King incident. On the night of the Rodney King beating, “amateur video camera enthusiast, George Holliday, shot footage of LAPD officers beating a twenty-five year old African-American man following a traffic stop” (Alpert p.131). The question raised is why did something like this incident happen? In order to answer the question, a review of the police department is necessary. At the time of the Rodney King beating Daryl Gates had been the police chief of Los Angles for thirteen years. Chief Gates had power over the departments’ policies and personnel, and “his position was well insulated by unique civil service protections” (Alpert p.134). Chief Gates was recognized as someone who was professional and innovative on new ideas to enforce the law. He adopted militaristic technology as equipment to use in the streets. One example of the new technology was the motorized police battering rams, which were essentially tanks

On March 3, 1991 an African American man named Rodney King became a posterboy for racial tension and police brutality in America. On this day, police officers Stacey C. Koon, Laurence M. Powell, Timothy E. Wind, and Theodore J. Briseno attempted to pull Rodney King over because they suspected he was driving under the influence. Mr. King then lead the officers on a 110 mph chase through San Fernando Valley, California, and finally stopped his car in a residential area. Police officers began beating Mr. King after he got out of his car. Officers tasered, kicked, stomped on, and hit Mr. King with their batons for about 10 minutes.

Gelsey Piatt and Madalyn Davishrr 1990’s News Article -Rodney King BREAKING NEWS: Rodney King was found face down in his LA home pool, dead at the age of 47. Rodney King’s public life all started on March 3rd, 1991 where after a high-speed chase from LAPD, King was violently beaten with batons suffering more than 11 fractures, all caught on tape. 4 Los Angeles Police Department officers by the name of Laurence Michael Powell, Timothy Wind, Stacey Koon, and Theodore Briseno are all indicted by grand jury in connection to the beating of King, to the joy of the public. April 29th, 1992 almost a year following the initial incident, the trial of the 4 officers comes to a harrowing defeat when they were pronounced not guilty of brutally beating King.

This paper will cover the events that took place within the first five days in south central Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict .

The incident took place March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was speeding on the 210 freeway in Los Angeles. A police officer started pursuing him and it turned into a high-speed chase, he was pulled out of his car. Nearby a resident by the name of George Holliday videotaped four white officers beating Rodney King. (Daily News 2011, Rodney King’s march 3, 1991, traffic stop and beating turned LA into a riot zone). The reason it was such a big deal was not only because it was four white men, but also because they were officers of the law, and it was looked at as a hate crime.

The beginnings of the riots came on March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was stopped and brutally assaulted by police. King was stopped after a high speed chase police after police caught him intoxicated and was subsequently forced out of the car (History.com). From there, police began to unlawfully assault Rodney King, leaving him with a fractured skull, along with a broken cheekbone (History.com). A witness, George Holliday, filmed the officers beating Rodney King; a day after the tape was airing on CNN for the rest of the country to witness (Los Angeles Daily News). Four officers were later arrested and put to trial a year later, however all of them were not pleaded guilty. The verdict angered a massive amount of African