On March 2, 1991 Rodney King and two of his friends sat in the car in Altadena, California drinking malt liquor for many hours before deciding to take a drive. California Highway Patrol officers spotted King driving at a high speed estimated to be above 100 m.p.h. With lights and sirens on the officers began to follow King. They ordered him to pull over via the loudspeaker, but King did not follow the order and continued to drive. After King did not pull over, the officers called for help. The units of the Los Angeles Police Department joined in the pursuit. Petitioner Laurence Powell and his trainee, Timothy Wind were two officers that joined the pursuit. King finally left the highway after being chased for about eight miles. He stopped at the entrance of a recreation area. The officers ordered King and his passengers to get out of the car and lie on the floor with their hands behind their back. The two passengers followed the order, but King wasn’t as cooperative. Officers Stacey Koon, Ted Briseno and Roland Solano all began to approach King. Koon is a sergeant, so he naturally took charge. The officers ordered King to assume the felony prone position for the second time. King dropped to his hands and knees, but would not get in felony prone position. King resisted and started to fight back, so the officers took steps back and fired taser darts. The next part to occur was recorded by a bystander. The video first shows King rising from the ground and charging toward officer
King was very determined. He didn’t let anything stop him from achieving his goal, not even being thrown in jail. He kept fighting for what he believed in. He knew one day his dream was going to come true that’s why he kept fighting. Even the use of chauvinist and anti-colored slurs couldn’t break the mental fortitude Dr. King possessed.
After going through such self-purification and nonviolence training, then King elaborates on how they planned out the timing of the action. He
In his letter, King is in a Birmingham jail, arrested for protesting segregation. He wasn't willing to sit on the sidelines of the fight for equality while his brothers and sisters fought and died for their cause. He was willing to sacrifice everything for this cause. He responds to his fellow clergymen that called his actions “unwise and untimely”, usually not responding to such inquiries, except this specific case, he realized that they had pure intentions and he felt it his duty to try to help them understand his cause. He has so much passion for justice; it was his only concern. King
As a result. King became a target to the, supremacists, who bombed his family and other
At 12:30 A.M. on March 3, 1991, Tim and Melanie Singer, a married team of the California Highway Patrol, noticed a Hyundai speeding along the Foothill Freeway in northeastern L.A. The car belonged to Rodney Glen King, a native Californian who had recently been released from prison for threatening and assaulting a storeowner. Immediately, the Singers exited the highway, returned behind King’s vehicle, and began to pursue at speeds up to 117 mph. After nearly causing multiple accidents, King finally came to a stop outside Hansen Dam Park. Within seconds, Officers Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno, Rolando Solano, and Sergeant Stacey Koon arrived in three LAPD cruisers
On March 3, 1991 Rodney King led the Los Angeles police on a high speed chase. Once the chase was over officers pulled King out of his vehicle and began to brutally beat,taze and stomp on him. The recording of the video taken by a witness standing on the other side of the street was locally broadcasted then nationally broadcasted.The reasons that police officers acted the way they did was because “Rodney King was driving while intoxicated and when officers attempted to arrest him, the large belligerent man resisted that arrest.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou ) It was already said that King had a criminal record of second degree robbery and out on parole so the officers were aware of who he was by now. I also believe that racial profiling was another factor that caused the police officers to act they way that they did. As stated by Connie Rice a lawyer and civil rights activist , “The LAPD at the time was almost an occupying force, partially biased against people of color.” (Sastry & Bates) Personally, I do not believe that the officers acted in an appropriate matter because instead of pulling him from his car and brutally beating him they should've just gone up to him and arrested him. I understand that he was seen as a threat during this time because of the high speed chase but there were other ways that they could have handled the situation. The use of forces that could have been appropriate for this situation were verbal commands, maybe a bit of empty hand control with the soft empty hand technique and if he resisted then that is when the use of less lethal force would of been used. Also they found out that in the first three seconds of the film were cut of and showed that “Rodney King rising up from the street to charge one officer in a clear-cut violent assault. In self defense, that officer struck King with his PR-24.” (Blue Knights with Lt. Dan Marcou.) Now with this new information I believe that the officer had a right to defend himself however not to the extent that they all went. Hitting King ith the PR-24 would have caused him to fall and during that time they could have arrested him instead. According to Biography.com, “The United States Department of Justice filed federal civil rights charges
But negotiations eventually followed the mass arrest and it the protestors seemed to be winning. King
Weeks after King’s arrest, protesters in Marion, Alabama are attacked by Alabama troopers. Protester, Jimmie Lee Jackson is shot and killed by Alabama trooper, James Fowler.
marines were going to take the king hostage. The king didn't object to this, but the
If Mr. King would have sneezed, it is hard to say what would happen to the movement. If you do not have a leader then you have no one to follow. Mr. King later recovered and headed back to Memphis to continue what he
In Los Angeles in 1991 Rodney King was driving under the influence of alcohol, and also speeding at excessive high speeds. Around 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King 's car speeding on the Highway. The officers pursued King, and the pursuit attained high speeds, while King refused to pull over. He would later state that he did not pull over because he was attempting to outrun the police because he would violate his parole from a previous robbery conviction for driving under the influence. After king exited the highway there were about five police cars behind him, with a helicopter following. King exited the Highway and was ordered out of the car. His passengers exited first
The beginnings of the riots came on March 3, 1991, when Rodney King was stopped and brutally assaulted by police. King was stopped after a high speed chase police after police caught him intoxicated and was subsequently forced out of the car (History.com). From there, police began to unlawfully assault Rodney King, leaving him with a fractured skull, along with a broken cheekbone (History.com). A witness, George Holliday, filmed the officers beating Rodney King; a day after the tape was airing on CNN for the rest of the country to witness (Los Angeles Daily News). Four officers were later arrested and put to trial a year later, however all of them were not pleaded guilty. The verdict angered a massive amount of African
With his now free hands he grabbed the unconscious persons and tied their bodies together with rope he found making sure to tighten
Officers exited their vehicle and attempted to take the Suspect into custody. The Suspect attempted to flee but the Suspect
"On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was the driver of a car in Los Angeles, California. The driver didn't stop when signaled by a police car behind him, but increased his speed. When police finally stopped the car, they delivered 56 baton blows and six kicks to King, in a period of two minutes, producing 11 skull fractures, brain damage, and kidney damage. Unaware that the incident had been videotaped, the police officers filed inaccurate reports, not mentioning the fact that Rodney King was left with head wounds. On March 15, 1991, four police officers were arraigned on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force" (Mike Lepore).