Rodney King was a construction worker who survived who became a writer and activist after he survived an act of police brutality from the LAPD. The footage was shown around the world and caused awareness and motivated people to fight for a cause: against police brutality and for equality.The four police officers were tried for use of excessive force but three were released as "innocent." The fourth was not found guilty but the jury could not make a decision.
After this, so many were enraged that a riot that lasted six days began. This finished off with 63 people killed and more than 2,000 injured. Finally, the federal government got involved and two of the four police officers were found guilty.The LAPD awarded King 3.8 million dollars.
This event occurred on March 3, 1991. King was with three of his friends. They drank and on his way back, he sped and this is the reason why he tried to escape the police. Several helicopters joined and he was forced to pull aside to where he was beaten many, many times. He was held at gun point, tasered, batonned, stabbed, kicked, hit, punched, you name it.
This was one of the most significant events that sparked interest in fighting against police brutality. This is still an issue today, so it's good to look back on this every then and now.
2 comments:
Great job! I was very surprised to hear that the police officers were able to get away with the crime at first because the brutality and unnecessary force was caught on video. I am very glad that the case finally reached partial justice for Rodney King.
I remember the police saying they were simply defending themselves from Rodney who seemed to be trying to fight back, Sad to see the police get away with this.
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