The Los Angeles Riots and Rodney King

In the tape, King is seen on the ground. He rises and rushes toward Powell—as argued in court, either to attack Powell or to flee—and King and Powell collided in the rush. Officer Powell strikes King with his baton , and King is knocked to the ground. Powell strikes King several more times with his baton. Briseno moves in, attempting to stop Powell from striking again, and Powell stands back. Koon reportedly said, "That's enough. Koon acknowledged ordering the continued use of batons, directing Powell and Wind to strike King with "power strokes.

In the videotape, King continues to try to stand again. Koon orders the officers to "hit his joints, hit the wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles. The officers again "swarm" King, but this time a total of eight officers are involved in the swarm. King is placed in handcuffs and cordcuffs, restraining his arms and legs.

King is dragged on his abdomen to the side of the road to await the arrival of emergency medical rescue. Holliday shot a videotape of the incident on his camcorder from his apartment near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street in Lake View Terrace. Two days later, Holliday called LAPD headquarters at Parker Center to let the police department know that he had a videotape of the incident, but he could not find anyone who was interested in seeing the video.

He went to KTLA television with his videotape. The station cut ten seconds of the video, before the image was in focus, that showed an extremely blurry shot of King charging at the officers. Later members of the jury said that this cut footage was essential to their decision to acquit the officers.

Portions were aired numerous times, and it "turned what would otherwise have been a violent, but soon forgotten, encounter between the Los Angeles police and an uncooperative suspect into one of the most widely watched and discussed incidents of its kind. The Holliday video of the Rodney King arrest is a fairly early example of modern surveillance , wherein civilians, with the aid of increasingly sophisticated and affordable video equipment, record significant events.

Several " copwatch " organizations subsequently were started throughout the United States to safeguard against police abuse, including an umbrella group, October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality. King was taken to Pacifica Hospital after his arrest, where he was found to have suffered a fractured facial bone , a broken right ankle, and multiple bruises and lacerations.

Pacifica Hospital nurses reported that the officers who accompanied King including Wind openly joked and bragged about the number of times they had hit King. District Attorney Ira Reiner believed there was insufficient evidence for prosecution. The Los Angeles County District Attorney subsequently charged four police officers, including one sergeant, with assault and use of excessive force.

On April 29, , the seventh day of jury deliberations , the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force.

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The first two seconds of videotape, [39] contrary to the claims made by the accused officers, show King attempting to flee past Laurence Powell. During the next one minute and 19 seconds, King is beaten continuously by the officers. The officers testified that they tried to physically restrain King prior to the starting point of the videotape, but King was able to physically throw them off.

Afterward, the prosecution suggested that the jurors may have acquitted the officers because of becoming desensitized to the violence of the beating, as the defense played the videotape repeatedly in slow motion, breaking it down until its emotional impact was lost. Outside the Simi Valley courthouse where the acquittals were delivered, county sheriff's deputies protected Stacey Koon from angry protesters on the way to his car. Movie director John Singleton , who was in the crowd at the courthouse, predicted, "By having this verdict, what these people done, they lit the fuse to a bomb.

Led by attorney Warren Christopher , it was created to conduct "a full and fair examination of the structure and operation of the LAPD," including its recruitment and training practices, internal disciplinary system, and citizen complaint system. Though few people at first considered race an important factor in the case, including Rodney King's attorney, Steven Lerman, the Holliday videotape was at the time stirring deep resentment among African Americans in Los Angeles, as well as other major cities in the United States, where they had often complained of police abuse against their communities.

The officers' jury consisted of Ventura County residents: Lead prosecutor Terry White was African American. On April 29, , the jury acquitted three of the officers but could not agree on one of the charges against Powell. Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said, "The jury's verdict will not blind us to what we saw on that videotape. Bush said, "Viewed from outside the trial, it was hard to understand how the verdict could possibly square with the video. Those civil rights leaders with whom I met were stunned.

And so was I and so was Barbara and so were my kids. Within hours of the acquittals, the Los Angeles riots began, lasting six days. African-Americans were outraged by the verdicts and began rioting in the streets along with the Latino communities. Smaller riots occurred in other U. During the riots, on May 1, , [46] King made a television appearance in which he said,. I just want to say — you know — can we all get along?

Can we, can we get along? Can we stop making it horrible for the older people and the kids? I mean we've got enough smog in Los Angeles let alone to deal with setting these fires and things And it's not going to change anything. We'll get our justice; they've won the battle, but they haven't won the war. We'll get our day in court and that's all we want. And, just, uh, I love — I'm neutral, I love every — I love people of color. I'm not like they're making me out to be. We've got to quit — we've got to quit; I mean after-all, I could understand the first — upset for the first two hours after the verdict, but to go on, to keep going on like this and to see the security guard shot on the ground — it's just not right; it's just not right, because those people will never go home to their families again.

And uh, I mean please, we can, we can get along here. We all can get along — we just gotta, we gotta. I mean, we're all stuck here for a while, let's, you know let's try to work it out, let's try to beat it, you know, let's try to work it out. The widely quoted line has been often paraphrased as, "Can we all just get along? After the acquittals and the riots, the United States Department of Justice DOJ sought indictments of the police officers for violations of King's civil rights.

On May 7, federal prosecutors began presenting evidence to the federal grand jury in Los Angeles. On August 4, the grand jury returned indictments against the three officers for "willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force" and against Sergeant Koon for "willfully permitting and failing to take action to stop the unlawful assault" on King. Based on these indictments, a trial of the four officers in the United States District Court for the Central District of California began on February 25, The federal trial focused more on the incident.

Timothy Wind and Theodore Briseno were acquitted of all charges.

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During the three-hour sentencing hearing U. District Judge John Davies, accepted much of the defense version of the beating. He strongly criticized King, who he said provoked the officers' initial actions. Davies said that only the final six or so baton blows by Powell were unlawful. The first 55 seconds of the videotaped portion of the incident, during which the vast majority of the blows were delivered, was within the law because the officers were attempting to subdue a suspect who was resisting efforts to take him into custody.

Davies found that King's provocative behavior began with his "remarkable consumption of alcoholic beverage" and continued through a high-speed chase, refusal to submit to police orders, and an aggressive charge toward Powell. Davies made several findings in support of the officers' version of events. Mitigation cited by the judge in determining the length of the prison sentence included the suffering the officers had undergone because of the extensive publicity their case had received, high legal bills that were still unpaid, the impending loss of their careers as police officers, their higher risks of abuse while in prison, and their undergoing two trials.

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The judge acknowledged that the two trials did not legally constitute double jeopardy, but nonetheless raised "the specter of unfairness". These mitigations were critical to the validity of the sentences imposed, because federal sentencing guidelines called for much longer prison terms in the range of 70 to 87 months. The low sentences were controversial, and were appealed by the prosecution. The case was appealed by the defense to the U.

Both Koon and Powell were released from prison while they appealed the Ninth Circuit's ruling, having served their original month sentences with time off for good behavior.

Los Angeles Riots Fast Facts

On June 14, , the high court reversed the lower court in a ruling, unanimous in its most important aspects, which gave a strong endorsement to judicial discretion, even under sentencing guidelines intended to produce uniformity. King was subject to further arrests and convictions for driving violations after the incident, as he struggled with alcohol and drug addiction.

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On August 21, , he crashed his car into a block wall in downtown Los Angeles. In July , he was arrested by Alhambra police after hitting his wife with his car and knocking her to the ground. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail after being convicted of hit and run. On August 27, , King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his vehicle into a house, breaking his pelvis. He reported that the attackers were a man and a woman who demanded his bicycle and shot him when he rode away. Drew , which premiered in October Drew Pinsky , who runs the facility, showed concern for King's life and said he would die unless his addiction was treated.

He and Pinsky physically retraced King's path from the night of his beating, eventually reaching the spot where it happened, the site of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles. In , King and other Celebrity Rehab alumni appeared as panel speakers to a new group of addicts at the Pasadena Recovery Center, marking 11 months of sobriety for him.

His appearance was aired in the third-season episode "Triggers". On September 9, , it was confirmed that King was going to marry Cynthia Kelly, who had been a juror in the civil suit he brought against the City of Los Angeles.

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The BBC quoted King commenting on his legacy. 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. My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption. Spagnola, the book describes King's turbulent youth as well as his personal account of the arrest, the trials, and the aftermath.

Both were alcoholics, and both were victims of drowning, on the same holiday 28 years apart. He was transferred by ambulance to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California and was pronounced dead on arrival at 6: PDT The Rialto Police Department began a standard drowning investigation and said there did not appear to be any foul play. On August 23, , King's autopsy results were released, stating he died of accidental drowning.

The combination of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana found in his system were contributing factors. The conclusion of the report stated: Al Sharpton delivered the eulogy at King's funeral. Rodney King has become a symbol of police brutality, but his family remembers him as a "human not a symbol". He made this his foundation for the rest of his life. The beating of Rodney King and its aftermath has been addressed frequently in art, including the film Riot , an extended discussion on the subject led by Edward Norton in the film American History X , the one-man play Rodney King by Roger Guenveur Smith , [85] produced by Spike Lee and released on Netflix in ; and the exhibit Viral: Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary will be producing a docuseries through their company Revelations Entertainment on the life of Rodney King, to be released in By the end of the day, California Governor Pete Wilson had declared a state of emergency and ordered the activation of reserve National Guard soldiers.

The citywide unrest showed little signs of abating on April 30, prompting the suspension of rapid transit, mail service, schools and professional sports games. Many businesses closed, leaving residents to wait in long lines for food and gas, while other store owners, like bands of armed Korean merchants, chose to engage the looters.

Although some 2, National Guardsmen had reached the city by 8: That evening, President George H. By May 2, with 6, National Guardsmen bolstered by the addition of another 4, federal troops and Marines, the disorder had largely quelled. An estimated 30, people marched at a peaceful rally for Korean merchants, and volunteers began cleaning up the streets. Meanwhile, arraignments began for some 6, alleged looters and arsonists. Highway exits reopened and police began recovering stolen merchandise the following day, the only significant trouble coming when National Guardsmen shot a driver who attempted to run them over.

On May 4, Mayor Bradley lifted the citywide curfew, and residents attempted to resume day-to-day activities with schools, businesses and rapid transit resuming operations.

Federal troops stood down on May 9 and the National Guard soon followed, though some soldiers remained until the end of the month. The final tally for the L. At the conclusion of the riots, elected officials set about putting the city back together through a combination of federal grants, collaborations with financial institutions and tax proposals. In October, the commission issued a report that criticized both the LAPD and City Hall for being unprepared and slow to handle the response to the riots. Although the LAPD demonstrated improvements with community-based programs, it resisted implementing most of the recommendations of the Christopher Commission.

In , the city of Los Angeles entered a consent decree with the U. Department of Justice that allowed an independent monitor to oversee reforms. After taking over as LAPD chief in , William Bratton was credited with significantly overhauling and improving the perception of the department. He used information technology to track misconduct and use of force, promoted diversity and disciplined officers instead of adhering to a code of silence. We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, contact us!

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In Los Angeles, California, four Los Angeles police officers that had been caught beating an unarmed African-American motorist in an amateur video are acquitted of any wrongdoing in the arrest. Hours after the verdicts were announced, outrage and protest turned to violence as the The Watts Riots, also known as the Watts Rebellion, was a large series of riots that broke out August 11, , in the predominantly black neighborhood of Watts in Los Angeles.

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