Rodney King Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Rodney King
BIRTH DATE: April 02, 1965
DEATH DATE: June 17, 2012
PLACE OF BIRTH: Sacramento, California
PLACE OF DEATH: Rialto, California
AKA: Rodney King
Full Name: Rodney Glen King

Best Known For

When a mostly white jury acquitted the police officers who were caught on video beating Rodney King, it set off the L.A. riots of 1992.

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Rodney King

APA Style

Rodney King. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:46, May 22, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141.

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Rodney King. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141 [Accessed 22 May 2013].

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"Rodney King." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 22 2013, 04:46 http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141.

MHRA Style

"Rodney King," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141 [accessed May 22, 2013].

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"Rodney King," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141 (accessed May 22, 2013).

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Rodney King [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 22] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141.

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Rodney King, http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141 (last visited May 22, 2013).

AMA Style

Rodney King. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/rodney-king-9542141. Accessed May 22, 2013.

Synopsis

Born in Sacramento, California, on April 2, 1965, Rodney King was caught by the Los Angeles police after a high-speed chase on March 3, 1991. The officers pulled him out of the car and beat him brutally, while amateur cameraman George Holliday caught it all on videotape. The four L.A.P.D. officers involved were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer. However, after a three-month trial, a predominantly white jury acquitted the officers,

Quotes

"As far as having peace within myself, the one way I can do that is forgiving the people who have done wrong to me. It causes more stress to build up anger. Peace is more productive."

– Rodney King

"I had to learn to forgive. I couldn't sleep at night. I got ulcers. I had to let go, to let God deal with it. No one wants to be mad in their own house. I didn't want to be angry my whole life."

– Rodney King

"It was like being raped, stripped of everything, being beaten near to death there on the concrete, on the asphalt. I just knew how it felt to be a slave. I felt like I was in another world."

[On his brutal beating by L.A.P.D. officers in 1991.]

– Rodney King

"It's not painful to relive it. I'm comfortable with my position in American history."

[On his brutal beating by L.A.P.D. officers in 1991.]

– Rodney King

"People, I just want to say, can't we all get along? Can't we all get along?"

– Rodney King

inflaming citizens and sparking the violent 1992 Los Angeles riots. Two decades after the riots, King told CNN that he had forgiven the officers. King was found dead in his swimming pool on June 17, 2012, in Rialto, California, at the age of 47.

Beating by LAPD

Born on April 2, 1965, in Sacramento, California, Rodney Glen King was an African American who became a symbol of racial tension in America, after his beating by Los Angeles police officers in 1991 was videotaped and broadcast to the nation.

The officers -- Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Stacey Koon -- were charged with criminal offenses, including assault with a deadly weapon. Their trial was originally set to be held in Los Angeles, but defense attorneys successfully argued that a fair trial in Los Angeles would be impossible because of the publicity.

The trial was moved to Simi Valley, a predominantly white suburb of L.A. The jury was comprised of ten white people, one Hispanic person and one Asian person, and many objected to the fact that there were no African-American jurors.

Acquittal and Resulting Riots

The officers' acquittal in April 1992 triggered riots in South Central, Los Angeles. More than 50 people were killed, more than 2,000 were injured and 9,500 were arrested for rioting, looting and arson, resulting in $1 billion in property damage.

On the third day of the riots, King made a public appearance, making his now famous plea: "People, I just want to say, can't we all get along? Can't we all get along?"

The United States Department of Justice filed federal civil rights charges against the four officers, and in August of 1992, two of them were found guilty while the other two were acquitted. King was eventually awarded $3.8 million in a civil trial for the injuries he sustained.

The riots and police response to the violent aftermath resulted in the resignation of L.A.P.D. Chief Darryl Gates, thought by many minorities to symbolize institutionalized racial intolerance. He was replaced by a black chief, Willie Williams, who introduced several changes suggested by an independent commission that investigated the riots.

More than a decade after being brutally beaten by police officers, in May 2012, King discussed the incident with The Guardian, stating, "It's not painful to relive it. I'm comfortable with my position in American history. It was like being raped, stripped of everything, being beaten near to death there on the concrete, on the asphalt. I just knew how it felt to be a slave. I felt like I was in another world."