Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was an African-American man whose brutal treatment by police brought widespread attention to issues of police misconduct and police brutality. On March 3, 1991, after a high-speed chase on the I-210 freeway, at 12:45 am, King was arrested and severely beaten by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers. The beating was captured on video by George Holliday, a nearby resident who recorded the scene from his balcony. The footage, showing King on the ground being beaten and struck by police batons more than 50 times after attempting to evade arrest, was sent to local news station KTLA and quickly garnered global media coverage, sparking outrage and igniting public debate about systemic police misconduct. Over 20 officers were present at the scene, most from the LAPD. King suffered 11 fractures and other injuries due to the beating.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged four LAPD officers, including a sergeant, with assault and excessive use of force following the incident. Due to extensive media coverage, the trial was moved from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley in neighboring Ventura County. The jury comprised ten white jurors, one biracial man, one Latino, and one Asian American. On April 29, 1992, after seven days of deliberations, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and three of the four on charges of using excessive force. They could not reach a verdict for the fourth officer on the excessive force charge.
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley said, “The jury’s verdict will not blind us to what we saw on that videotape. The men who beat Rodney King do not deserve to wear the uniform of the LAPD.” President George H. W. 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.”
The acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which began within hours and lasted six days. Outraged by the verdicts, African American and Latino communities took to the streets in protest. The unrest escalated, resulting in 63 deaths, 2,383 injuries, over 7,000 fires, damage to 3,100 businesses, and nearly $1 billion in financial losses before order was restored by law enforcement, the California Army National Guard, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Smaller riots erupted in other U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Atlanta, and New York City. In Toronto, Canada, a civil disturbance occurred on Yonge Street, where protesters gathered to condemn both the Los Angeles acquittals and the police killing of a Black man in Toronto two days earlier.
During the riots, on May 1, 1992, King made a television appearance pleading for an end to the riots and asking, “Can we all just get along?”
Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley created the Independent Commission on the Los Angeles Police Department, also known as the Christopher Commission, in April 1991. King later sued the city for damages, and a jury awarded him $3.8 million and $1.7 million in attorney’s fees.
