How a Traffic Stop Ignited Chaos in Los Angeles (1992)

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The Rodney King Incident & the 1992 LA Riots | Undercover Spill  In 1991, a traffic stop in Los Angeles turned into a national flashpoint when Rodney King was brutally beaten by LAPD officers. The footage shocked the country. But when the officers were acquitted, the city erupted in one of the most destructive riots in American history.  In this video, we break down the events leading up to the 1992 LA Riots, the aftermath of the Rodney King trial, and how a single incident exposed long-standing tensions in America.  📅 A story of injustice, outrage, and history.

Transcript

00:00it was one of the most gruesome displays ever that was actually captured on film

00:10the incident would trigger a chain reaction that left a major american state in utter chaos

00:16let's take a look back at the rodney king story and find out what actually happened

00:22on a saturday evening king and a few of his closest friends would come together to watch

00:28a lakers game on television like most sport gatherings drinks would be spread among the

00:34group after the game concluded the three men would make the poor decision to go for a drive

00:40while under the influence with king being the one opting to get behind the wheel after entering

00:46the los angeles 210 freeway rodney began to speed for miles the highway patrol spotted the group

00:53whizzing by going well over 70 miles per hour they attempted to pull the vehicle over for

00:59a traffic stop with the sirens on king who had a checkered past was currently on probation

01:05after serving time for a robbery of a convenience store he knew it would be a violation if the

01:11cops managed to pull him over instead of stopping on the shoulder of the freeway king decided to

01:16speed up even more and tried to evade the patrol unit he drove more than 100 miles per hour while

01:23fleeing then took an exit towards the main roads king continued to speed through the nearby residential

01:30areas hoping to escape the pursuit but more police units had arrived on the scene and even a

01:37helicopter was dispatched to offer some support after about 15 minutes of a high-speed chase

01:43they managed to corner king and force him to finally stop the vehicle the patrol officers

01:49ordered the passengers out of the car first and told them to lie on the ground face down

01:53they didn't put up much of a resistance to the lawful orders the intoxicated rodney on the other hand

02:01was not as compliant things proceeded to get quite intense once sergeant coon of the lapd took over the

02:08traffic stop a man who lived across the street would capture the graphic events that followed

02:14during the four minutes of footage multiple officers surrounded and beat the unarmed king

02:19they struck rodney over 50 times with their clubs tased him twice and kicked him repeatedly

02:26he then was taken into police custody and provided medical treatment for his severe wounds

02:32rodney had a fractured facial bone a broken right ankle multiple bruises and lacerations when it was

02:39all said and done the police downplayed the injuries and their relentless attack in their official reports

02:46but little did they know the brutal incident and their behavior had been recorded

02:51the videotape would make its way to the local news stations then shortly after it was aired nationwide

02:58police brutality in los angeles neither the police nor the suspect knew that a home video camera

03:05had captured the scene it began as a high-speed chase and ended early sunday morning with the

03:11motorist a black male being brutally beaten and kicked the victim was struck as many as 56 times and

03:16suffered several broken bones 56 times that's what the american public saw on videotape george holiday

03:26lives across the street he had his video camera out and recorded what happened as the suspect was being

03:32arrested for obvious reasons millions found the footage to be quite disturbing many viewers also

03:40claiming the ruthless attack was racially motivated

03:47do you have any idea at all how many times you were hit by a club

03:50what do you remember about that several times several times and then stomped and kicked pick up your

04:01this is something this is something

04:07what is that from that's from um uh some kind of device that they use they um shocked me

04:15they got a big kick out of that what makes you say they got a kick out of it because of how long they

04:23left it in me you know it was like they had a little toy and they wanted to see how it worked

04:29what kinds of things did you hear from the officers did you hear any kind of slurs at all

04:34what do you mean what slurs were there any kind of racial comments made at all oh racial no i didn't

04:42know i didn't hear you you can cut this from the tape if you want but rod's family has made it very

04:50clear that they're not looking to turn this into a racial crusade mr king doesn't want to make uh

04:57make it out as though they did this just because he was a black man they may have been incidental to

05:00it and there may be personal motives that these officers had we don't know about yet but at the

05:04present time it doesn't seem like that shortly after the surge in media coverage king was released

05:12from police custody with no charges filed against him the incident would invoke a widespread

05:18investigation their police chief reprimanded the four officers taking part in the assault

05:24and he too agreed they crossed the line when conducting the arrest

05:28the 15 surrounding officers that stood idly by watching the assault would be suspended as well

05:36the district attorney of los angeles sought to prosecute the four policemen for their actions

05:42all of them were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force by a police

05:47officer additionally two of them were also charged with filing a false police report

05:52the criminal trial would finally be underway several months later 10 of the 12 jurors selected were

06:00caucasian and this caused a great deal of concern for those that followed the unfolding story

06:06as coon testifies it becomes increasingly apparent that the defense is trying to use the tape for its own

06:13advantage surgeon coon at this point in time this incident has just gone on several seconds is that correct

06:20it's gone on seems like an attorney but it's gone on several seconds yes all right and mr king has been

06:26hit several times he's been hit a lot of times and at this point do you believe he's trying to get up

06:34yes i do and what did you think he was trying to get up to do that he was going to get up and arm himself

06:41and possibly uh attack officer wind here in the background officer pal officer brasino after seven

06:49days of deliberation the four officers were found not guilty of assault and three of the four were found

06:55not guilty of excessive force when the verdict was announced within hours unthinkable chaos would break

07:02out in california the rioters began to take over a wide area they looted businesses set fires to

07:10buildings assaulted innocent civilians and even homicides took place it was the most destruction the

07:16united states had ever encountered on its own soil in just three days since the riots had started

07:24more than 50 people were killed 2 000 were injured and nearly 1 billion dollars in property damage had

07:30occurred king would even be asked to appear on television to help calm the situation i just

07:36want to say you know can we can we all get along can we can we get along um can we stop making it

07:46making it horrible for for the for the older people and and the and the kids

07:52it's we'll we'll get our justice um they've won the battle but they haven't won the war

08:00we will have our day in court and that's all we want

08:07we've got to we've got to quit we've got to quit you know after all i mean

08:12i can understand the the first upset for the first two hours after the verdict but uh to go on to keep

08:20going on like like this and to see the security guard shot on the on the ground it um

08:30it's it's uh it's just not right the riots were too much for the local police to handle as the city

08:36had become a war zone both the mayor and the governor of california would request president

08:41bush to deploy the national guards and military in hopes to regain control over 10 000 armed forces

08:49would be sent to the area and only then did the riot crisis stop three months after their acquittals

08:56in criminal court the four officers that originally were found not guilty were then tried in a federal

09:02court for violating king's civil rights sergeant stacy coon and officer lawrence powell were

09:08both convicted and sentenced to nearly three years in prison officer powell was seen delivering the

09:14most club blows in the video coon as the supervising officer failed to control the situation and was

09:20held accountable for it the other two officers were acquitted as the footage suggests officer powell was

09:26the primary attacker the city of los angeles also agreed to pay king 3.8 million dollars for medical

09:33bills and for pain and suffering for the years that followed after the mainstream incident king continued

09:41to have issues with the law and deal with a substance abuse problem in 2012 king would be found floating

09:49lifeless in his backyard pool with alcohol cocaine and pcp in his system he was just 47 years

09:56old what do you think about this story do you think the incident was racially motivated

10:04or did the media blow it out of proportion leave a comment below and let me know

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