20 Years Ago Today the LAPD Beat Rodney King
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From [HERE] and [VIDEO HERE] [full version HERE] and [HERE] The 20th anniversary of the videotaped Rodney King beating is Thursday, March 3, 2011. Here is a timeline of events around the day:
March 3, 1991: Rodney King beaten. Just after midnight March 3, 1991, Rodney King was speeding on the 210 freeway in Los Angeles when a police officer started pursuing him. After King led them on a high-speed chase, he was pulled out of his car. Nearby resident George Holliday videotaped four white officers beating King, who is black. Holliday sold the tape to a local television station and the videotape stunned the nation a day later after CNN aired the footage.
March 5, 1991: Officers arrested. Two days after the beating, Sgt.Stacey Koon, Officer Laurence Powell, Officer Timothy Wind and Officer Theodore Briseno were arrested. They were charged with assault and using excessive force.
March 5, 1992: Trial begins. The prosecution made opening statements a year later in the state trial of the four officers in Simi Valley, Calif. They entered pleas of not guilty after they were arraigned on charges soon after the incident.
March 17, 1992: Prosecution rests. The prosecution rested its case just two weeks into the trial. Midway through testimony of the defendants, prosecutors begin to realize they might lose the case as they relied too much upon videotaped evidence.
April 29, 1992: Verdicts rendered. Judge Stanley Weisberg read the verdict the jury had reached -- all four officers were acquitted and not guilty. Shortly thereafter, massive riots broke out, resulting in the deaths of 53 people and $1 billion in damage to the city. [MORE]
May 1, 1992: King appeals to rioters. King made an appeal to rioters in Los Angeles on television, asking "Can't we all get along?" A day later, U.S. Marines were called in to maintain order after the Los Angeles Police Department was overrun. The riots quieted down after the troops entered the city.[MORE]
Feb. 25, 1993: Civil rights trial starts. The four officers had a federal civil rights trial in Los Angeles. Separate from the original state trial, federal prosecutors alleged the beating was racially motivated, which prompted the lawsuit.
April 16, 1993: Two guilty, two acquitted. Powell and Koon are convicted of civil rights violations and spend 30 months in federal prison. Briseno and Wind are acquitted. No riots were reported after this new trial.
April 19, 1994: King awarded damages. After a civil trial in which King sued the city of Los Angeles for damages, a jury awarded him $3.8 million. In another civil trial against the four officers, a jury gave King no money after he asked for $15 million.
December 1995: Officers released. The two officers who spent time in federal prison were released after fulfilling their entire sentences. Powell and Koon did not work for law enforcement again.
