Rodney King found dead

[GirlySports]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/06...ney-king-dead/

Rodney King, whose police brutality case in 1991 led to deadly riots in Los Angeles, was found dead in a swimming pool on Sunday in Rialto, California, police told CNN.
He was 47.

[killer_carlson]

Too bad. I saw him on celebrity rehab. He was an alcoholic. I remember the riots from when I was a kid and remember where I was when the coverage came on tv.

What he went through was inhumane and I hope he finds peace.

[FlamesAddiction]

The racial aspect of the beating was uncalled for, but personally, I think more drunk drivers should at least get a mouth full of chicklets after they start a police chase.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

This may seem insensitive so I'll keep it in spoiler tags. Only posting it because I think it still reflects some attitudes regarding race and poverty and is a fantastic scene in a fantastic movie.

The scene from American History X where they discuss Rodney King. I was too young at the time and don't really have any vivid memories about the LA riots, although I remember being aware of them from a young age.

Spoiler!

[nik-]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The racial aspect of the beating was uncalled for, but personally, I think more drunk drivers should at least get a mouth full of chicklets after they start a police chase.

Well that was quick ... I thought it would take more posts to get to this point.

[Yamer]

I wonder if this had anything to do with his alcoholism. From what I understood his recover was actually going quite well.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Yamer

I wonder if this had anything to do with his alcoholism. From what I understood his recover was actually going quite well.

His wiki page is saying that his fiance said he was drinking and smoking marijuana just before he drowned.

The source is a little sketchy though (TMZ).

[Machiavelli]

Maybe he had a heart attack.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Remember the riots well as I worked in Carson, CA at the time, just a few miles south. We were sent home from work early as they chaos spread southward into Compton which is just North of Carson.

Pretty scary stuff.

[SeeBass]

I was driving through Atlanta at the time on the way to Clearwater.

Avoided all the Waffle Houses and drove straight on instead

[Tyler]

Edit: beaten









Too soon?

[Devils'Advocate]

I was listening to a recent Real Time with Bill Maher episode where he had Arsenio Hall on to discuss Rodney King. Arsenio said the hardest thing is that when they did a 20th anniversary special on CNN, Arsenio's son asked his father why nobody was held accountable for the beatings and now, 20 years later, Arsenio said he STILL had no explanation for his son. And with no explanation, there is no assurance that white cops wouldn't get away with the same thing today.

Arsenio went on to say that one of the people he most feels sorry for was Reginald Denny. He was a good, innocent man that was attacked by a mob lit with rage. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by Devils'Advocate

I was listening to a recent Real Time with Bill Maher episode where he had Arsenio Hall on to discuss Rodney King. Arsenio said the hardest thing is that when they did a 20th anniversary special on CNN, Arsenio's son asked his father why nobody was held accountable for the beatings and now, 20 years later, Arsenio said he STILL had no explanation for his son. And with no explanation, there is no assurance that white cops wouldn't get away with the same thing today.

Arsenio went on to say that one of the people he most feels sorry for was Reginald Denny. He was a good, innocent man that was attacked by a mob lit with rage. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I'm not quite sure what that means. Two of the officers were sentenced to 32 months in prison after the federal trial. Is that not being held accountable?

I think the beating was very unfortunate and the cops that did it should never have been completely acquitted in the original trial, but Rodney King was no angel. He was on parole at the time for armed robbery and savagely beating the clerk (possibly racially motivated), and then the night of the beating, he led the police through a high-speed chase with a blood alcohol level 2.5 times over the legal limit.

The video that the media showed also didn't include the first parts where he was refusing to surrender even after being tased. When a violent offender on parole resists arrest, it's not hard to predict the outcome. I wonder if Arsenio Hall had trouble explaining that part. The way people talk about Rodney King, it is like he was a saint that was targeted for no reason, when in reality, he has a long criminal record that goes back well before the incident.

[Displaced Flames fan]

I'm pretty sure I recall a black cop being involved in the beating as well.

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

The way people talk about Rodney King, it is like he was a saint that was targeted for no reason, when in reality, he has a long criminal record that goes back well before the incident.

What people are those? Who doesn't know he was drunk, that he was a convict, that he was high... bla bla bla bla bla? We knew all this when it happened.

A bunch of cops beat the $hit out of him with clubs. We've all seen it.

Were they justified in doing so because he was no angel?

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

What people are those? Who doesn't know he was drunk, that he was a convict, that he was high... bla bla bla bla bla? We knew all this when it happened.

A bunch of cops beat the $hit out of him with clubs. We've all seen it.

Were they justified in doing so because he was no angel?

No, but it brings into question that the beating was purely racially motivated.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by RougeUnderoos

What people are those? Who doesn't know he was drunk, that he was a convict, that he was high... bla bla bla bla bla? We knew all this when it happened.

A bunch of cops beat the $hit out of him with clubs. We've all seen it.

Were they justified in doing so because he was no angel?

I was watching the news tonight and some of the comments sure made it sound like he was an angel. Things like; he was a "sweet man", he "stood up for what he believed in". The funniest was Al Sharpton insinuating that he was a victim of profiling that night.


I already said that he didn't deserve the beating to the extent that it happened. I don't think he deserves high praise for anything either though, and he seems to get a lot of it now that he's dead.

[Notorious Honey Badger]

since this has now been brought up ill say this about the beating itself. if a drunk driver high on drugs was doing twice the speed limit in calgary was pulled over, then attacked the cops i hope the cops would beat the crap out of him too.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I was watching the news tonight and some of the comments sure made it sound like he was an angel. Things like; he was a "sweet man", he "stood up for what he believed in". The funniest was Al Sharpton insinuating that he was a victim of profiling that night.


I already said that he didn't deserve the beating to the extent that it happened. I don't think he deserves high praise for anything either though, and he seems to get a lot of it now that he's dead.

That kind of stuff happens to everyone that dies though.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by Notorious Honey Badger

since this has now been brought up ill say this about the beating itself. if a drunk driver high on drugs was doing twice the speed limit in calgary was pulled over, then attacked the cops i hope the cops would beat the crap out of him too.

Would you hope that they continued to beat him for several minutes after he had been subdued?

What happened to Rodney king defined a generation of race relations in the USA. It isn't a matter of a couple of cops roughing a guy up - it is a matter of excessive, race related police brutality and a sham investigation and prosecution afterwards.