Rodney Glen King was the black motorist whose beating by white police officers .
1992 March 3 in Los Angeles , King was pulled over by the cops for driving recklessly. A witness, George Holliday, videotaped the end of King's encounter with police from his apartment balcony. The video shows the officers severely beating King in the presence of other L.A. cops -- all told, nearly 20 seconds of whacking and kicking as King tries to rise from the ground. Aired repeatedly all over the U.S. the footage shocked viewers and charges were brought against four cops: Laurence Powell, Theodore Briseno, Timothy Wind and Stacey Koon. On 29 April 1992 a jury acquitted three of the officers and deadlocked on the charges against Powell. Predominantly African American areas of the city erupted in violence, and after almost two weeks there were more than 50 fatalities, thousands of arrests and an estimated billion dollars in property damage. The city of L.A was so corrupt other police enforcement from other citys had to come in help because the police enforcement could keep up with the violence. At one point King appeared before cameras in a plea that has since been boiled down to simply, quote that "Can we all get along here? Can we all get along?" after the case King was awarded $3.8 million after a civil suit against the city (and others). during the process Powell and Koon were convicted in federal court of violating King's civil rights and both police offcier was sententced 30 mouths and prison.. still to this day rodney king altercasions still make new headlines
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