Rodney+King+and+the+L.A.+Riots+of+1992

=Rodney King and the L.A. Riots of 1992=

Overview
Rodney King was driving down California's Highway 210 with some friends when the California Highway Patrol determined that he was speeding. Rodney was on probation due to a prior robbery offense. Rodney feared that if he was caught and ticketed, his probation would be revoked and he would be sent to jail. He attempted to flee the police but was eventually pulled over and pulled out of the car. The scene was a dramatic one as several patrol cars were on scene, Highway Patrol quickly deemed that he was resisting arrest and that is when Sergeant Stacy Koon fired two shots into King with a taser gun, this failed to subdue him, this lead the arresting officers to beat him into submission with their batons. The entire incident was videotaped by a George Holliday, a nearby resident. This tape was released and it soon sparked the short fuse that was the Los Angeles African American community, which already believed that the Los Angeles Police were guilty of abuse and racial profiling. ====

Critical Issue
Thirteen months later, on April 29, 1992, LAPD officers, Stacy Koon, Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno and Timothy Wind, were acquitted of assaulting King by a white jury in the mainly white suburb of Simi Valley. That decision sparked the worst single episode of urban unrest in American history. The L.A. Riots which erupted on April 29, 1992, were totally sparked by the king discision and were used as an outlet of hate for all races in Los Angeles as African Americans targeted shops owned by not only whites by members of Los Angeles' growing Korean community. The National Guard was called in to control the situation but both the Army and the Marines were needed to quell the situation as well as local authorities. The riots had left 53 people dead, over 2,000 injured, and approximately $1 billion in damage.

==Conclusion== King won $3.8 million in damages from the City of Los Angeles for the beating incident. He soon after used the money to start a rap label known as Straight Alta-Pazz Records which quickly went out of business. Over the next several years, he was arrested for an assortment of charges, including drunk driving and domestic abuse. He shortly after moved from Los Angeles to suburban Rialto to live peacefully with his family. Rodney King refused to talk to reporters about the incident. King is now sober and speaks at support groups in the LA area. Rodney's attorney Renee Campbell said "Rodney has this wonderful personality, he's always looking for the good part of life. He's simply a very nice man caught in a very unfortunate situation."

References(2009-10.1.2.A)

(www.time.com) (www.laist.com)