Rodney King Research Paper

On the morning of March 3rd, 1991 an African-American man led police on a high-speed chase through the city of Los Angeles. Approximately eight miles later police swarmed around the car and confronted the driver, who went by the name Rodney King. During the confrontation, officers tortured King until the point he was forced to seek medical care. A case was opened and the police officers were acquitted. This angered many people, specifically Blacks and led to the historical “L.A. Riots’’ , where they felt race had something to do with the case.
After a night out of fun Rodney King decided to go home and was believed to be under the influence of PCP, soon he started a large police pursuit that lasted about eight miles. King caused such a ruckus that several police cars and helicopters had to help catch him. The chase began on the highway and ended in a neighborhood, King reached a top speed of 129 km/h. Rodney King was soon cornered by police and had to surrender. When King exited the car he reached for his buttocks which an officer thought he was reaching for a weapon. Rodney King was then beaten by white police until the point he was hospitalized.
Rodney King was brutally beaten by police to the point of having multiple injuries. Rodney King was struck with police batons and tased numerous times, all over his body. Rodney King was

attacked by all caucasian officers. King was taken to Pacifica Hospital where he was treated for a fractured facial bone, a broken ankle, and many bruises. According to King he “suffered” 11 skull fractures, permanent brain damage, broken [bones and teeth], kidney damage [and] emotional and physical trauma. Blood and urine samples were taken from King’s body while he was being treated in Pacifica, which was tested for PCP. PCP was the drug King was believed to be under the influence of during the incident, the results came back negative.
Next, King took legal actions in which he sued the city of Los Angeles for his brutal beating. A resident who lived nearby where King was beaten took a recording of the incident, this was his biggest piece of evidence. King’s defense was that the police officers used excessive force towards him, because he was already detained and they still decided to beat him. The case went to court where all officers involved in the trial had all charges dropped against them. This angered many people particularly African-Americans and led to the L.A. Riots.
The verdict ruled where all officers were acquitted of charges, chaos then broke out. Over 50 people were killed, over 2,000 injuries, and over 11,000 people were arrested from April 29th to May 4th of 1992. People were outraged by the verdict because even though there was proof of the torture nobody was punished. Many people believed no discipline was taken place because King was an African-American and the white police officers, in which the system did not treat him fairly. In the video of the incident you could hear Officer Koon saying to his partners to “strike him in his joint bones, knees, and ankles”. Eventually, King appealed the ruling and he won, he was awarded over 3.5 million dollars and Koon received a 30 month prison sentence while the charges for the other officers were dropped.
In conclusion the Rodney King case opened many individuals eyes on police brutality and racism which changed their perspective.

King said “I realize I will always be the poster child for police brutality, but I can try to use that as a positive force for healing and restraint.” Even though it was 1991 when this incident took place and people thought we were past racism in America, it made us realize racism still exist in America in 1991 and even today. The overall theme of the story is don’t judge a book by it’s cover. In other words a police officer’s image is positive but their motive may not be

positive.