Rodney King - Twenty Years Onwards - Essay Example

? The Rodney King Case: Twenty Years Onwards The Rodney King Case: Twenty Years Onwards It was 1991, and L.A. police chases were regularly televised. These usually ended when the bad guys were caught and it seemed that the policemen had saved the day again. This particular police chase seemed just like the others. That is until it ended in onslaught violence by the police officers. It forever changed the way L.A. police officers were viewed and inspired a wave of riots that is seldom paralleled in the history of USA. The driver of the speeding vehicle was Rodney Glenn King. He and two fellow passengers were intoxicated at that time. When the car chase ended, the other two did not resist arrest but Rodney King did. According to the police officers present at the scene, he acted aggressively, seemingly threatening the officers. So, they beat him. In fact, within a few minutes 4 officers had badly kicked Rodney King, shocked him, and used a taser gun and batons. Rodney King sustained eleven skull fractures and major kidney damage (VanHise, n.d.). Had it not been for George Holliday no one would have known of this in-humane behavior. George lived in a nearby flat and happened to have a camera with which he recorded the entire incident. He later gave the tape to a local news channel and by the next day, March 4th 1991, the video was playing on news channels everywhere (BBC, 2002). LAPD maintained that officers acted in self-defense. But the now infamous George Holliday video showed a merciless beating of a man who apparently possessed no weapons of any kind and was under the influence of alcohol and looked to be harmless. The video tape got humongous publicity, and due to the public outrage brought on by it, prosecutors filed charges against some of the police officers involved that night (BBC, 2002). Four officers, Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, and Theodore Briseno, were arrested and charges were placed for usage of lethal arms and unneeded utilization of force. An all-white jury later acquitted them of all charges on April 29, 1992. Nobody could have predicted what happened next. The decision took everyone by surprise because it was widely believed that the presence of a video tape should not leave any doubt in any one’s mind about what happened. Everyone reacted with disbelief but for many, the very first emotion they felt was anger. Jury’s decision was the last spark needed to ignite riots from thousands of people from suppressed communities of Los Angeles (CNN Wire Staff. 2011). Three days of rioting ensued causing a loss of nearly $1 billion in L.A. alone. The riots then extended to other U.S. cities as well leading to 12000 arrests, 2000 reported injuries and 55 deaths. The extensive riots led to a federal civil rights trial of the four accused officers (Delk, 1995). This time around justice was served. The grand jury returned indictments against the officers on the 4th of August. The indictments were for three of the police officers for knowingly and deliberately harming an unarmed individual. Koon was accused because he allowed this illegal act to proceed and did not make an attempt to prevent it from happening. A compensation of 3.8 million dollars was given to Rodney as well (Linder, 2011). That beating on March 3, 1991 was not King’s last run-in with the law. In the years following the trial he was arrested many times. He has been arrested on charges of domestic abuse, DUI, robbing a convenience store and beating the clerk. Most of his problems stem from his addiction to alcohol. King’s parole officer Tim Fowler, describes him as a guy who can intelligently function in society. His problem, according to Tim, is alcoholism. King started drinking at an early age. Born is Sacramento in 1965, King was an exceptional athlete at his school and was attached to his father who passed away sooner than King would have liked. King helped his father in cleaning commercial buildings taking the late night shift of 5 pm to 2 am. This really disturbed his concentration at school and he later dropped out during senior year (UMKC School of Law, 2001). Since the fateful day in 1991, Rodney King has definitely tried to find meaning in his life. He now coaches teen’s basketball teams for the city's recreation and parks department. But despite his stints at rehabilitation centers, King has not been able to renounce alcohol completely. In 2008, he volunteered to appear on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew to publicly battle alcoholism (Winton et al, 2011). In his bio for the show he famously claimed that ‘If you're not drunk by 10am, you're not human’ (VH1, n.d.). His last trouble with the law happened in July of 2011, when he was arrested in Moreno Valley for suspicion on DUI. He has been arrested at least 12 times since the incident in 1991. In 2005 King was arrested for threatening to kill his daughter and second wife. The wife later did not press any charges and King was released. In 2003, King drove under the influence of PCP and drove his Ford Expedition into a San Bernardino house as police watched on. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail and six months in a drug rehabilitation center. King has spent nearly 300 days under custody since 1991 and has blown away the $3.8 billion awarded to him. He has filed for bankruptcy and was last known to be working for a tow truck company. He has also worked as a cab driver (VH1, n.d.). In 2010, King got engaged to Cynthia Kelley, one of the jurors who awarded him the $3.8 billion settlement. Both King and Cynthia were married at the time of the trial, but they admit that definite sparks were felt when they first met each other at a Newport Beach pizzeria the day after the trail ended. Twenty years later, King claims that he is a changed man. He is sober and engaged and thinks that Cynthia is a blessing in his life (Beston et al, 2010). References BBC. (2002, July 10). Flashback: Rodney King and the LA riots. BBC News. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2119943.stm Beston, S., & Shine Staff. (2010, September 8). The Juror who loved me: Rodney King engaged to woman who helped award him millions. Retrieved from: http://shine.yahoo.com/love-sex/the-juror-who-loved-me-rodney-king-engaged-to-woman-who-helped-award-him-millions-2388467.html CNN Wire Staff. (2011, March 4) Fiancee: Rodney King ticketed 20 years after police beating. CNN. Retrieved from: http://articles.cnn.com/2011-03-04/us/california.rodney.king.ticket_1_laurence-powell-stacey-koon-and-officer-rodney-king?_s=PM:US Delk, J. D. (1995). Fires & Furies: The L. A. Riots- What Really Happened. Palm Springs, CA: ETC Publications. Linder, D. (2001). The Trials of Los Angeles Police Officers' in Connection with the Beating of Rodney King. UMKC School of Law. Retrieved from: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/lapdaccount.html UMKC School of Law.(2001).Key Figures in the LAPD Officers' (Rodney King Beating) Trial. Retrieved from: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lapd/Kingkeyfigures.html VanHise, J. (n.d.). Aftermath Of The Rodney King Riots. Retrieved from http://www.fragmentsweb.org/stuff/photking.html VH1.(n.d.) Rodney King: Full Biography. Retrieved December 4, 2011: http://www.vh1.com/shows/celebrity_rehab_with_dr_drew/season_2/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=11669#moreinfo Winton, R., & Grad, S. (2011, July 13). Rodney King has lengthy record of legal troubles since infamous LAPD beating. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/rodney-king-has-lengthy-record-of-legal-troubles-since-infamous-lapd-beating.html Read More