King, Rodney (1965-)

Rodney Glen King is an African American male who made national headlines after four White Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers were unknowingly videotaped using excessive force against him. The videotape was aired by every major television network across America and only affirmed for many what minorities have argued for years: the criminal justice system in America is biased and unjust at all levels when dealing with minorities. This entry describes the horrors of the Rodney King beating and the aftermath of those events, to assist in raising the awareness of the level of mistreatment and discrimination of minorities in the criminal justice system.

King was born April 2, 1965, in Sacramento, California. He was the second of five children and a high school dropout with minimal literacy skills. King fathered two children early in life and later was married to Crystal Waters, who also had two children of her own. King, a laborer, found routine work as a construction worker and at the time of the 1991 beating was working construction at Dodger stadium.

On March 3, 1991, King fell into the national spotlight when, while on parole for a robbery of a convenience store, he led the California Highway Patrol on a chase in excess of 110 miles per hour. After King exited the freeway and drove approximately 8 miles into a Los Angeles neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department joined the California Highway Patrol in their pursuit. Four of the 11 responding officers from the Los Angeles Police Department (Officer Laurence Powell, Officer Timothy Wind, Officer Theodore Briseno, and Sergeant Stacey Koon), while using excessive force, beating, and kicking King, were unknowingly videotaped by a citizen onlooker, George Holliday.

The initial moments of the incident were not captured on video and involved King being ordered to step out of his vehicle and instructed by the officers to lie down on the ground on his stomach. When King refused to comply with the orders given by the officers, they tried to physically force King down to the ground, but he resisted and became combative. The officers retreated, and Sergeant Koon fired 50,000-volt Taser darts into King in an attempt to stun and subdue him.

The videotape then begins, showing King rising from the ground and charging toward Officer Powell. California Highway Patrol Officer Melanie Singer testified that she observed Officer Powell strike King “with a power swing … across the top of his cheekbone, splitting the face from the top of his ear to his chin,” causing him to fall to the ground. King attempted to rise but was repeatedly struck by Powell and Wind with their metal batons.

During the beating, Officer Powell struck King in his chest, and King rolled over and did not move for about 10 seconds. The officer then reached for [Page 433]his handcuffs, and Officer Briseno placed his foot on King's upper back-neck region (the only use of force by Briseno). King collapsed onto the ground, at which time Officers Powell and Wind began to kick and strike King with their metal batons for approximately 19 more seconds. When King finally put his hands behind his back, the officers handcuffed him. Throughout the ordeal King was struck a total of 56 times, which caused him to suffer multiple skull fractures, a shattered eye socket and cheekbone, broken teeth, a concussion, kidney injuries, permanent brain damage, facial nerve damage that left his face partially paralyzed, injuries to both knees, and a broken leg, which left him with a permanent limp. After the beating, King was hogtied and dragged to the side of the road, where he was left without any medical assistance from the officers.

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