"Can't we all just get along?!" Los Angeles (CNN) -- Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday, authorities and his fiancee said. He was 47.
Police in Rialto, California, received a 911 call from King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, about 5:25 a.m., said Capt. Randy DeAnda. Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him and attempted to revive him. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, DeAnda said.
There were no preliminary signs of foul play, he said, and no obvious injuries on King's body. Police are conducting a drowning investigation, DeAnda said, and King's body would be autopsied.
Rodney King: What happened in 1991
"His fiancee heard him in the rear yard," he said, and found King in the pool when she went outside.
Kelly was a juror in King's lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles in 1994. Rodney King's legacy 2011: King a symbol of police brutality 2011: Rodney King, 20 years later 2011: Rodney King's nightmare
King's beating after a high-speed car chase and its aftermath forever changed Los Angeles, its police department and the dialogue on race in America.
"Rodney King was a symbol of civil rights and he represented the anti-police brutality and anti-racial profiling movement of our time," the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement. "It was his beating that made America focus on the presence of profiling and police misconduct."
King was 25 and on parole after a robbery conviction in March 1991. In an interview in 2011, he recalled he had been drinking and was headed home from a friend's house when he saw a police car following him and panicked, thinking he would be sent back to prison. So he attempted to flee.
"I had a job to go to that Monday, and I knew I was on parole, and I knew I wasn't supposed to be drinking, and I'm like 'Oh, my God,'" he told CNN.
Related: Rodney King looks back without anger
He realized he couldn't outrun the police, but looked for a public place to stop. "I saw all those apartments over there, so I said, 'I'm gonna stop right there,'" he said. "'If it goes down, somebody will see it.'"
An amateur cameraman caught the scene as four white police officers struck King more than 50 times with their wooden batons and used a stun gun on him.
King said as the officers beat him, they yelled, "We are going to kill you, n***er," although the officers denied using racial slurs.
The video shows King cowering on the ground and attempting to crawl away as he is surrounded by a crowd of police officers. Four of them used their nightsticks to strike him.
King was beaten nearly to death. Three surgeons operated on him for five hours.
The video of the beating appeared on national television two days later, focusing attention on the issue of racially-motivated police brutality.
"We finally caught the Loch Ness Monster with a camcorder," King attorney Milton Grimes said.
Four LAPD officers -- Theodore Briseno, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind and Sgt. Stacey Koon -- were indicted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police officer.
But following a three-month trial in the predominantly white Los Angeles suburb of Simi Valley, three of the officers were acquitted of all charges. The jury, which had no black members, deadlocked on one charge of excessive force against Powell, and a mistrial was declared on that charge.
Powell's attorney, Michael Stone, said earlier this year the unedited video worked against King and helped prove the officers' case. Rodney King remembers the L.A. riots Los Angeles riots: 20 years later King writes memoir sharing his story Rodney King on getting beyond race
"Most of the nation only saw a few snippets where it's the most violent," Stone said. "They didn't see (King) get up and run at Powell."
But African-Americans in Los Angeles exploded in outrage. Rioters ran through the streets -- looting businesses, torching buildings and attacking those who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The violence was responsible for more than 50 deaths and $1 billion in property damage.
On the third day of rioting, King emerged from seclusion to make a plea: "People, I just want to say, can we all get along? Can we get along?"
The violence ceased, but the debate did not.
Nearly a year later, the four officers stood trial in federal court on civil rights charges. Two African-Americans were picked for the jury, and King testified. He hedged, however, on whether police used racial slurs during the beating. He told CNN in 2011 that slurs were used, but said he vacillated on the stand because his mother had told him to avoid talking about race.
Koon and Powell were found guilty and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Briseno and Wind were acquitted.
"It was like ... I just hope we just get one," King said. "I hope we just get one on that. If we get one, we're good. So to get the two, I was really happy."
King also sued the city of Los Angeles.
"Half of them had no sympathy whatsoever," Kelly, his fiancee, told CNN earlier this year about her fellow jurors. "... They just didn't care. Like, 'He broke the law. He deserved what he got.' I told them they were crazy. It was about justice for what happened to him. No one deserves to get beat like that."
The other jurors came around, and King was awarded $3.8 million in damages.
In later years, King had several more run-ins with the law, including a 90-day jail stint in 1996 for a hit-and-run involving his wife at the time. On the 20th anniversary of the beating in 2011, he was pulled over and ticketed for a minor traffic violation.
"The trouble that (people) see me in is a part of my life that I'm working on," he said in 2011. "I'll always have an issue when it comes to alcohol. My dad was an alcoholic. The addiction part is in my blood. What I've learned to do is arrest my addiction -- arrest it myself, so I don't get arrested."
In 2008, King appeared on the VH1 reality show "Celebrity Rehab." He also released a memoir, "The Riot Within," in which he describes his difficult upbringing and his reflections on the beating and its aftermath.
"He was a wonderful, sweet man," said Bob Forrest, a Los Angeles-based musician and drug counselor who worked with King on "Celebrity Rehab."
He said King struggled with his sobriety. "He and I would talk off and on. Sometimes he was doing great, sometimes not. He was always gracious, an honest and gentle soul."
The ranks of Los Angeles police are much more diverse than they were at the time of King's beating. Changes have also been made -- some compelled by the courts -- in the way certain neighborhoods are patrolled and how complaints are handled.
Sharpton said in his statement Sunday that he had recently spent time with King discussing the release of his book.
"Through all that he had gone through with his beating and personal demons, he was never one to not call for reconciliation and for his people to overcome and forgive," Sharpton said.
King said earlier this year he has forgiven the officers who beat him.
"Yes, I've forgiven them, because I've been forgiven many times," he said. "My country's been good to me ... This country is my house, it's the only home I know, so I have to be able to forgive -- for the future, for the younger generation coming behind me, so ... they can understand it and if a situation like that happened again, they could deal with it a lot easier."
***Gordon, I really didn't think you could be this stOOpid, but you exceeded my expectations. Wussy. Manziel, see Josh Gordon. Dumbass.***
Well ... dead at the bottom of the pool is usually one of 4 things ....
1) Heart Attack
2) Drugs
3) Some sort of cramp that prevented the swimmer from saving himself. (and a good reason to never swim alone)
4) Someone decided that he would look good at the bottom of the pool, so they made sure he would stay there.
It will be interesting to see which it is in this case.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
The real tragedy of the Rodney King story is that we still brush institutional racism under the rug. No one wants to talk about the redlining, segregated schools, or horrible social mobility in this country.
Instead we continue to worship business men who take away jobs from Americans in the name of capitalism.
Quote: The real tragedy of the Rodney King story is that we still brush institutional racism under the rug. No one wants to talk about the redlining, segregated schools, or horrible social mobility in this country.
Instead we continue to worship business men who take away jobs from Americans in the name of capitalism.
Talking negatively aboiut Romney can get you shot around here....LOL
#GMSTRONG
“Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not to his own facts.” Daniel Patrick Moynahan
"Alternative facts hurt us all. Think before you blindly believe." Damanshot
I haven't seen Obama practices improve things for the Black community as far as jobs and raising income.
Unemployment in the Black community has gone up under Obama, as has Hispanic unemployment ... and both at rates faster than unemployment among Whites.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
We can't view this issue of race as simply as the left vs. the right, democrats against republicans, etc.
What we should realize is that we barely have done what Martin Luther King Jr., along with many other notable activists, asked us to do. We have failed to create a society in which we are fully integrated as a human race.
Instead, we rather bicker about job creators or something that barely addresses the overall picture of why Rodney King was beaten, left for dead, and found to be in the blame for getting beaten.
Quote: The real tragedy of the Rodney King story is that we still brush institutional racism under the rug. No one wants to talk about the redlining, segregated schools, or horrible social mobility in this country.
Instead we continue to worship business men who take away jobs from Americans in the name of capitalism.
Say what?? Get over it dude. I'll talk about redlining.....it needs to happen, look at the housing mess we are in......segregated schools...birds of a feather flock together, totally normal IMO....social mobility.....you make the money and you are as mobile as you need.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
"Redlining" is a practice used in real estate, in which agents are encouraged to restict neighborhood choices to clients to form racially segregated neighborhoods. It was almost the norm a generation ago, and is still reported to be widely in use today.
The term is derived from two uses:
1. red lines drawn on maps at banking institutions to delineate which neighborhoods would (or would not) receive housing loans 2. lines drawn on maps in real estate offices to delineate neighborhoods based on ethnicity... and broken down in categories of 'desirability.'
Since then, the term has been expanded to include such practices as charging different interest rates on loans (based on race) and even charging different prices for food in grocery stores.
From my pov, beyond being illegal, the practice is unconstitutional and un-American. It is tied to many social inequities, and is a big factor in the concept of urban decay and 'white flight' to the suburbs during thr 50's, 60's and 70's. It was outlawed in the late '60's I think, but is still uncovered as a practice today.
When my wife and I were shopping for a home, we had a fine experience. The realtor showed us any neighborhood we wanted without hesitation. We settled on a neighboorhood that is in town... a pleasant, middle-class enclave next to 2 parks with stately, cistom-built homes from the '20's-'30's. The 'hood is quite integrated racially, with pleasant neighbors who all seem to get along. Folks who are in thier 80's live next door to young families with kids just entering grade school.In many ways, it's exactly what we were looking for.
On the other hand, I have friends who've told me that they were 'gently discouraged' from looking at certain neighborhoods, even though they were qualified to secure loans for the prices those 'hood would command. One drive through those areas will tell you all you need to know about who lives there, and who does not.
So... that's 'redlining' in a nutshell, D. Go hit wiki to get some more on it.
____________________________________
As for Rodney King: his really was one of the cases that pushed the issue of racial justice in the last half of the 20th c. In almost every account I've read of him since those days, he's remained remarkably consistent in the things he's said. The idealist in me wants very much to believe that he moved on from that awful experience to enjoy a better life. The realist in me puts myself in his shoes and asks, "could I ever get past something like this enough to forgive?"
I thank God I've never been put in the position to have to answer that question....
Clemmy, lemme expand on that for a moment in order to give an example of just how serious redlining was a "generation ago."
It goes back twenty years to around '91, and as a 19-year old I was just entering my first career of real estate, where I started as a leasing agent and later moved to sales. In the affluent area I worked, we actually had neighborhood associations offering us kickbacks to keep certain people out while simultaneously guiding certain people in. That was my first experience with the concept, and let me tell you...it worked. The HOA's all had some pretty serious slush-funds built up and we did have people in our office that treated those monies as "bonuses" and didn't think twice about doing whatever they had to do to collect.
I cannot say I saw different loan rates for different races, but only an idiot would say it wasn't an established practice.
***Gordon, I really didn't think you could be this stOOpid, but you exceeded my expectations. Wussy. Manziel, see Josh Gordon. Dumbass.***
I suppose it's too much to ask for people to think for a moment and remember that the combination of drugs multiplies the effects which is more often than not the cause of these kinds of accidents.
As for weed, there isn't a person alive that can convince me it's more dangerous than alcohol. I don't mind telling people at all that I'm a marijuana advocate, as it's one of the few things that gives my girlfriend relief from the brutal effects of Fibromyalgia. When combined with other drugs such as Neurontin and Cymbalta, the cumulative give her the ability to work through each day. Like any drug it is dangerous to a person's overall life if abused and allowed to become a disruption instead of an enhancement, but by itself it's far less harmful than alcohol and a plethora of prescription drugs.
As for Rodney King, well, he could never chase his demons away, and just like Whitney Houston, the demons finally caught him.
***Gordon, I really didn't think you could be this stOOpid, but you exceeded my expectations. Wussy. Manziel, see Josh Gordon. Dumbass.***
I agree that weed is nothing compared to alchohol. NOTHING.
But from my experiences in college (and, unfortunately, too many immediately after ) the combination of the 2 is MUCH worse than just alcohol alone. I'm talking REALLY bad . . . But like I said, that's just me. Not making any bold declarations . . .
Put me in the "i dont care" group....people die everyday, why/how is he any different...a criminal who was being restrained by police that just happened to get caught on film dont make him special in my opinion.
I'd say the trial and ensuing riots made him different that resulted from the cops "restraining" him made him different. He was one of the biggest names of the 90s . . .
Man I'm hoping the Indians can restrain some balls out of the park this week.
Quote: Put me in the "i dont care" group....people die everyday, why/how is he any different...a criminal who was being restrained by police that just happened to get caught on film dont make him special in my opinion.
I'm not saying you should care about him. I was just elaborating on why it was reported and why people would discuss it. Dude was a big name . . .
But you gotta admit he was famous for MORE than being a criminal . . . He was also famous for how the cops displayed for the camera how NOT to do their job . . . He was famous because of the trial . . . He was famous for the riots that tore apart the community.
They'll report when Reginald Denning dies as well.
The camera only opens after he is on the ground....dont know how he was acting, or resisting arrest prior to that video. And if he was white this wouldnt of gotten the attention it got cause he was black it was a huge deal. The police are always painted out to look like the bad guys in every situation. End of the day he was a criminal, dont do the crime and expect to go un punished. Maybe i am a cold hearted sob, but i dont care. He should of complied with the officers and it wouldnt of gotten to that point.
I don't think he was a hero, but rather a martyr and a symbol.
In some ways Rodney King was a reality show before reality shows existed in their current format.
As for the riots, well, King became an excuse for people to act up. Watching some of the documentaries over the years told me what I needed to know about some of the folks who were involved. They should have been remorseful over how they acted. I could have accepted them as being young hot-heads if they'd have stated they were sorry for what they did. However, many of the one's interviewed seemed to take pride in the fact that as fully-grown, middle-aged adults they were in fact not sorry.
Of course actually being sorry and admitting it on camera doesn't make for good television, so I would encourage everyone to realize that the faces on TV saying they weren't sorry for what they did doesn't represent everyone involved.
I'm also not convinced by any of the arguments made for why the cops got off. I suppose if I'm going to sarcastically use the term "karma" I can say that the police who beat King down were the "tit" to OJ Simpon's getting off scott-free's "tat"
***Gordon, I really didn't think you could be this stOOpid, but you exceeded my expectations. Wussy. Manziel, see Josh Gordon. Dumbass.***
Looked like he was resisting arrest and trying to get back to his feet to me. At that point the officers and entitled to defend themselves and control the situation. How would you feel had he gotten to his feet pulled out a gun and shot and killed the officers? Exactly they had to subdue him, had he stoped trying to stand and accepeted defeat he wouldnt of gotten beat like that.
Lets not forget that he was almost twice the legal amout over the limit for dui, and lead cops on a high speed chase through neighborhood's, and school zones. God only knows what was thrown out the windows during the pursuit. He reasoning for not stoping cause he was on probation for a robbery case....imo he was drunk and not cooperative with officers. Had he simply pulled over when they tried to it wouldnt of gotten out of hand. He brought that on himself, i for one think we should treat ciminals this way....maybe they will start to get the hint!
Maybe he shouldnt of been drunk off his butt, and lead cops on a high speed chase, and resist arrest and put up a fight. Funny how the video doesnt show our "super role model citizen" mr.king get out of his car after politely pulling over and doing as the arresting officer requested. Oh crap i forgot im supposed to use purple for sarcasm.
Not on person can sit here and tell me that he didnt have that coming...maybe none of you have ever lost a family member to a drunk driver, or had a family memeber robbed. This guys was/is/and forever will be a criminal.
I would be willing to bet if he was white none of use would of EVER heard about it. He did the wrong, got what he deserved imo.
Quote: Maybe he shouldnt of been drunk off his butt, and lead cops on a high speed chase, and resist arrest and put up a fight. Funny how the video doesnt show our "super role model citizen" mr.king get out of his car after politely pulling over and doing as the arresting officer requested. Oh crap i forgot im supposed to use purple for sarcasm.
Not on person can sit here and tell me that he didnt have that coming...maybe none of you have ever lost a family member to a drunk driver, or had a family memeber robbed. This guys was/is/and forever will be a criminal.
I would be willing to bet if he was white none of use would of EVER heard about it. He did the wrong, got what he deserved imo.
Are you kidding me with this BS? You sound like Derek Vinyard in American History X. Then again maybe you're just trying to use contrariness like you always did with braylon edwards. 2 out of the 4 douche bags were retried and sent to jail.
Don't give me that crap about drunk driving. I'm sure there are people on here that lost a friend or loved one to a drunk driver, but we don't have some agenda against every single one of them. Get off your high horse.
So you believe it is all one big racist conspiracy to give attention to minorities? God knows there has never been a crooked cop before.
I lost not one, but two uncles i never got the chance to meet to drunk drivers...i have zero sympathy for drunk drivers. And lets not forget that this wasnt his first brush with the law, he was on probation for robbery....seems like karma caught up to him. And he lead cops on a drunken high speed chase through neighborhood's and school zones. Had he not been an ignorant thug criminal and followed the rules of society none of this would of happened. And dont try to flip this as me being racist, thats just what people revert to when someone buries them with facts. He was repeat criminal, who risked the lives of several people that night, and refused to obey the law.
He got what he deserved plus a little on the side. I dont see the problem, how would you of felt had he plowed some little kid standing near the edge of the road waiting to cross the street to go to the candy store? Or hit an elderly person. Or better yet pulled out a gun and shot the cops when they laid off him after he was down. They had the right to defend themselves. Had he not been a ignorant drunk he wouldnt of had those problems.
Im not looking at this as a race thing, come on its 2012 for gods sake. I am looking at this as a criminal who was restrained by LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I think after 20+ years, both sides of this debate are set in there ways, and no amount of debate will change either.
Give it up folks, and let's move on already. Why don't we debate the atrocities of the Roman armies while we're at it, and see if we can come to a conclusive agreement?
We don't have to agree with each other, to respect each others opinion.
Sorry for your loss, God knows I've lost enough people due to the idiocy of others, but I am not going to hold a vendetta against everyone.
Umm pretty sure you're the one who brought race into this
Quote: I would be willing to bet if he was white none of use would of EVER heard about it.
So we only heard about this because he was black? Not that it was a tragedy.
Quote: how would you of felt had he plowed some little kid standing near the edge of the road waiting to cross the street to go to the candy store? Or hit an elderly person. Or better yet pulled out a gun and shot the cops when they laid off him after he was down.
Did any of this happen? No, was there any evidence of a gun being found on him? If so then more power to the police. You're just throwing in hypothetical to support your weak argument. If this happened, then okay I would understand what the cops were doing.
Drunk driver, high speed chase, resisting arrest.........dont be a criminal and it dont happen. It is as simple as that. Like i said a few post up maybe we should start treating the ciminals like criminals and stop worrying bout their rights and i bet you crime rates would start to drop. So sick of this crap going on in this country, its pretty sad when criminals have more rights than someone like me that works 84hrs a week trying to be a productive member of society. I dont drink, smoke or do drugs. I am a man of faith, and a father of 2.
If the cops turn on the lights i pull over. Guess what folks all Queen had to do is not drive drunk, resist arrest by leading cops on a high speed chase, and then resist arrest once finally pulled over. Its not that freaking hard of a concept to understand. Follow the laws and your life will be that much easier. Ignorant criminal beat? Smeh dont care bout it. And could care less if said criminal is no longer in our society. One less thug imo
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He'll probably never get the concept of mary jane being ridiculously less harmful than the sauce. To each their own, I guess.
) the combination of the 2 is MUCH worse than just alcohol alone. I'm talking REALLY bad . . . But like I said, that's just me. Not making any bold declarations . . .
