Rodney King

People

Rodney King

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On March 3, 1991, Rodney King, a 25-year-old Black man, was brutally beaten by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a high-speed chase. King, who was on parole and had been drinking, led police on an 8-mile pursuit before being stopped. Officers ordered King and two passengers out of the vehicle. When King did not comply quickly enough, Sergeant Stacey Koon authorized the use of a Taser, and officers proceeded to kick him and strike him with their metal batons approximately 53 times while he lay on the ground. Unbeknownst to the officers, a resident named George Holliday filmed the beating from his nearby apartment balcony. The 81-second video, broadcast on local station KTLA and then nationwide on CNN, showed King being repeatedly kicked and beaten by multiple officers while others watched. The footage shocked the nation and ignited a national debate about police brutality, particularly against African Americans. Four officers were charged with assault and excessive force. The trial was moved to the predominantly white suburb of Simi Valley, where on April 29, 1992, an all-white jury acquitted the officers of all charges except one count against Powell that ended in a hung jury. The verdict sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots, the most destructive civil disturbance in modern U.S. history. In a subsequent federal trial, officers Koon and Powell were convicted of violating King's civil rights and sentenced to 30 months in prison. King received $3.8 million from the city in a civil settlement. His question during the riots, "Can we all get along?", became one of the era's defining quotes. King died on June 17, 2012.