Twenty-three years after Rodney King’s beating, police brutality is on the rise more than ever. On March 3, 1991 Rodney King led police on a high speed chase through the streets of Los Angeles County before finally surrendering. An intoxicated Rodney King resisted arrest and upon doing so he was brutally beaten by police officers. An 89-second video of Rodney King being beaten was filmed and released to the press. The video shows police officers Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon, beating King with their batons.
Rodney king, born in Sacramento, California in 1965 and grew up to be known as a polite yet not very intelligent child and teenager. King was a high school dropout and a single father with a history of criminal activity. Rodney King was most famously known for his court battle against L.A.P.D. officers Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Ted Briseno, and Timothy Wind . On March 3, 1991 two crimes occurred involving King, one of which he was the offender and the other where he was the victim. On this Saturday night at 12:50 am Rodney king was driving his white Hyundai under the influence of alcohol along with his two fiends Freddie Helms and Bryant Allen.
This lead to acts of anger and defiance, People began to start riots on November 24th, 2014 the day that the jury’s decision became public knowledge. Crowds of protesters began to form outside of the police department. Over a dozen buildings were set on fire, there was vandalism, gun fights, and destruction of property. But all to prove a point. The people wanted to say that it was not okay to let one man’s heinous sin go unpunished.
After analyzing the video, I believe that excessive use of force was presented in the Rodney King arrest. The excessive use of force was first seen as soon as Mr. King went down on the ground and the first police officer used his baton to strike Mr. King. After that, the next scene is another police officer pulling out his baton to strike Mr. King as well. It also shows that the police officers are using their foot to kick Mr. King. That is the moment when excessive use of forced have been used.
Even though I think the riots were justified in this situation, I do understand how someone could disagree with the riots. Many people were injured by the riots and there was a lot of damage caused. The riots were a very controversial response to the verdict, but it was justified and effective in showing everyone that the citizens of LA were unhappy with the decision of the court.
The trial involved lingering racial tensions in America which seperated many Americans. The trial ultimately led to the riots of L.A. and the total destruction of the city. The riots lasted for days and resulted in thousands of dollars and even lives lost. These riots were so big that the United States National guard had to be called in order to calm down the people of Los Angeles. the King trial shows the evolution of an era that shuns what happens behind closed doors to an era which shows the harsh reality of police brutality with new means of communication and the growth of technology with the smartphone and videotaping.
The key issues behind the toxic relationship between many African-Americans and the police, are the police pulls over African Americans (males) because of their race. I don't think it’s more so African American itself its males period. If an officer see African Americans in a white neighborhood, the officer will stop that person and ask them to come to the car, and search them and ask what are you doing in this neighborhood? I have seen it done before and it's sad. They will do it to any race, the same why if they were in an African American neighborhood.
Two of the four officers are found guilty and serve 30 months in prison. The Los Angeles riots has a buildup of anger towards the LAPD for the treatment that they gave African
Injustice The Scottsboro Case shed light on the racial practices expressed in law that made a great impact on the legal system today. The actual victims of the Case did not receive a fair trial due to the color of their skin. The ones who played the victims planned the crime, and their stories made no sense. But like many of the trials during the time it wasn’t based on the actual evidence that was found,or even the defendants ' stories.
A big example of this is the George Floyd incident. This case of police brutality took the world by storm, with every major news outlet and most people talking about it. The story is that a man by the name of George Perry Floyd Jr. was an African American male who was brutally murdered in Minneapolis by a white police officer. The police arrived after he had been accused of using a counterfeit bill to purchase a pack of cigarettes; it only took another seven minutes for Mr. Floyd to be unconscious and pinned beneath three police officers showing no signs of
The Rodney King Riot happened in Los Angeles in the year of 1992. Rodney King was an African American male who was arrested on charges because of speeding, drunk driving, and refusing to stop his vehicle. Four police officers who have claimed to have witnessed King’s actions such as being high on drugs and was trying to attack them explains why they did what they did. A resident nearby by the name of George Holliday captured about 12 minutes of the attack on film. King was tasered, brutally beaten with side-handled batons, then forced to the ground to lie still which was where he was handcuffed.
Many police officers get off easily because they call it as self-defense, but it’s not. People being brutally beaten or killed, riots breaking out, mourning of neighborhoods, lawsuits against police departments all can be at stake of police officers using excessive force. This is part of the reason our country has been in an uproar. In the last few years’ police brutality has been at an all-time high. Because of it, movements have been started and protests have broken out.
When the verdict was read and the public became aware and conscious of the acquittal of the four police officers that unlawfully restrained Rodney G. King, the public suffered an immediate act of unrest, leaving the city in a period of turmoil and chaos. A fifteen-day period of unrest that left fifty-three people dead and twenty-three hundred injured. Los Angeles in 1992 felt wounded and lost as a result of the inherently present racial tensions, causing many residents to outbreak in periods of unrest that is still present and deeply rooted in Los Angeles' history and culture today. For decades, citizens in Los Angeles were petrified of their surroundings and when the 1992 Los Angeles riots enveloped Los Angeles and turned it into a war zone, citizens could only stare in horror and astonishment as the hidden traces of racism rose to the surface. An unconscious trace of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots remains today, inherently present in the culture that has now become a majority.
After said violation, four nameless officers proceeded to beat the mostly compliant King. The savage act of police brutality was captured on camera. After such a crime, the four officers in question were
Tension had already been mounting during the years leading up to the riots: the unemployment rate was staggering, a drug epidemic was ravaging the neighborhood, and gang activity and violent crime was rampant. Understandably, the community's anger was deepening against Los Angeles police. African-Americans said they did not feel protected, but instead reported being harassed without cause. When 911 calls about the violence and riots started coming in, law enforcement were not deployed immediately. Though LAPD Chief Darryl Gates announced early in the afternoon of that his officers had the situation under control, it would later be reported that the city was not adequately prepared for the riots.
