Obit: Rodney King

Subject: Obit: Rodney King
From: Amergin
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 02:23 PM

The man whose beating eventually sparked the LA Riots has died at age 47.

Rodney King

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: fat B****rd
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 03:10 PM

RIP Mr.King.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 03:10 PM

Oh, Sad.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 03:52 PM

Sad, indeed.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Jeri
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 05:36 PM

He was on "Celebrity Rehab" two or three years ago. I remember thinking he was the wisest, most honest person on the show, and I really wanted him to be successful. People mocked the "Can't we all just get along?" but it summed up the times.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Rapparee
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 06:08 PM

He had his problems, but then we all do. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: GUEST,grover
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 06:20 PM

Toured w/a musician/guitarist who was a witness to the actual beating as a Simi Valley police officer. When the verdict came in he was so offended he resigned his post. Told me the horror was realizing that the same thing could easily happen to him as well given the right circumstances.

How anybody in viewing the tape could find those thugs not guilty is beyond me.

RIP, Mr. King. May you find peace in whatever lays beyond this existence.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: GUEST,mando-player-91
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 07:22 PM

RIP Rodney.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: gnu
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 07:59 PM

RIP.

And I hope this thread does not go any further wrt a flame war. One post already to that effect is one too many. Ya wanna shit on King or the cops, start another thread eh? This thread should be about a man that deserves our respect and compassion... no matter "the details"... which NONE of us are party to.

Again... RIP Mr. King.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Beer
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 08:18 PM

It will happen Gnu, it will happen.
R.I.P. and condolences to his family and friends.
Adrien

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Bobert
Date: 17 Jun 12 - 09:34 PM

Sniff... I am completely bummed out... The guy deserved a better life... His simple words "Can't we all just get along" are as prophetic as any that have ever been spoken...

RIP...

B~

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 08:00 AM

Come on folks! he has been in trouble with the law all his life. I don't condone the beatings those cops dished out but he could have prevented it simply by complying with their orders.
It's ironic that he drowned in his swimming pool, a pool which he would probably not even have without the settlement money he got from the county.I'll bet those cops are grinning about that bit of irony.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Bobert
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 08:48 AM

Actually, Capt'n... From what I have read, Rodney went through that $$$ like a hot knife through warm butter... The house he has been living in is his fiancé's, not his...

B~

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Sawzaw
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 09:41 AM

"Can't we all just get along"

Maybe he should have said this to his wife and the Korean store clerk the robbed.

In July 1987, according to a complaint filed by his wife, King beat her while she was sleeping, then dragged her outside the house and beat her again. King was charged with battery and pleaded "no contest." He was placed on probation and ordered to obtain counseling. He never got the counseling.

In November 1989, King, brandishing a tire iron, ordered a convenience store clerk to empty the cash register. The clerk grabbed the tire iron, causing King to fall backwards and knock over a pie rack. King swung the rack at the clerk and fled the store with $200.

King was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery, and intent to commit great bodily injury.

In a plea agreement, King pleaded guilty to the robbery charge and the other charges were dropped.

He was sentenced to two years in prison, but was paroled in December 1990 after only serving a year of the two-year sentence.

At the time of the his LA arrest, Rodney King was twice divorced and had three children. His ex-wives were Crystal Waters and Danetta.   His consistent lifestyle of drug and alcohol abuse, along with numerous addictions left him estranged from his children.

On the night of March 2, 1991, King and two passengers, Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving west Interstate 210 in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. Prior to driving on the Foothill Freeway, the three men had spent the night watching a basketball game and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles.

After being tested five hours after the incident, King's blood-alcohol level was found to be just under the legal limit. This meant that his blood alcohol level was approximately 0.19 almost two and a half times the legal limit in California—when he was driving.

At 12:30 am, Officers Tim and Melanie Singer, a husband-and-wife duo of the California Highway Patrol, spotted King's car speeding. The officers then pursued King at high speeds.

According to King's own statements, he refused to pull the car over because he thought a driving under the influence test would violate his parole for a previous robbery conviction.

King exited the freeway, and the chase continued through residential streets at speeds allegedly ranging from 55 to 80 mph.[11][12] By this point, several police cars and a helicopter had joined in the pursuit. After approximately eight miles, officers cornered King's car. The first five LAPD officers to arrive at the scene were Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Rolando Solano. Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and lie face down on the ground.

The two passengers complied and were taken into custody without incident. King initially remained in the car. When he finally did emerge, he acted bizarrely giggling, patting the ground, and waving to the police helicopter overhead.

King then grabbed his buttocks. Officer Melanie Singer momentarily thought he was reaching for a gun. She drew her gun and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. King complied. Singer approached King with her gun drawn, preparing to make the arrest.

At this point, Sergeant Stacey Koon intervened and ordered Officer Melanie Singer to holster her weapon. LAPD officers are taught not to approach a suspect with a drawn gun, as there is a risk of the suspect gaining control of it if they get too close. Koon then ordered the four other LAPD officers at the scene—Briseno, Powell, Solano and Wind—to subdue and handcuff King in a manner called a "swarm", a technique that involves multiple officers grabbing a suspect with empty hands.

As the officers attempted to do so, King physically resisted. King rose up, tossing Officers Powell and Briseno off his back. King then struck Officer Briseno in the chest. Seeing this, Koon ordered all of the officers to fall back. The officers later testified that they believed King was under the influence of the dissociative drug phencyclidine (PCP). King's toxicology results tested negative for PCP. Sergeant Koon then ordered the officers to "stand clear."

King was standing and was not responding to Koon's commands. Koon then fired a Taser into King's back. King groaned; momentarily fell to his knees, then stood back and yelled for almost five seconds.

Then he rises and moves toward Powell. Solano termed it a "lunge," and said it was in the direction of Koon. At this time, taser wires can be seen coming from King's body. As King moves forward, Officer Powell strikes King with his baton. The blow hits King's head, knocking him to the ground immediately. Powell hits King several additional times with his baton. The videotape shows Briseno moving in to try and stop Powell from swinging, and Powell then backing up. Koon reportedly yelled "that's enough." King then rises to his knees; Powell and Wind continue to hit King with their batons while he is on the ground.

Koon acknowledged that he ordered the baton blows, directing Powell and Wind to hit King with "power strokes." According to Koon, Powell and Wind used "bursts of power strokes, then backed off." The videotape shows King apparently continuing to try to get up. Koon orders the officers to "hit his joints, hit the wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles."

Finally, after 56 baton blows and six kicks, five or six officers swarm in and place King in both handcuffs and cordcuffs, restraining his arms and legs. King is dragged on his stomach to the side of the road to await arrival of a rescue ambulance.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: kendall
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 01:22 PM

I had one such incident in 16 years of law enforcement. That bum ruined my reputation for non violence. No one beat him up, he was not tasered and I only nailed him once. He decided to comply.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Greg F.
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 04:30 PM

So, Kendall: are you trying to say that King "Got What He Deserved"?

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: GUEST,josepp
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 06:44 PM

Sawzaw forgot the part where King lay flat on the ground and Briseno walked up and stomped on the back of his head. Of course, that is standard police procedure when dealing with black suspects--especially in LA.

What you see on the tape is clearly not what Sawzaw describes. It is rookie cop initiation time. During such an incident, rookie white cops will be ordered by veteran white cops to turn a black suspect into a punching bag as well as a kicking bag, a clubbing bag and a stomping bag. Failure to do so, is duly noted and the rookie can expect no promotion. Desperate to please the veteran cops the rookies generally will lay into the suspect in hopes of winning the veterans' praise. In the video, the rookies can be seen running up, clubbing, kicking and running back again so others can take their turns. Standard LAPD operating procedure. The subject during these "training exercises" will always be black. When you're the rookie and the veteran looks over at you and says, "I think it's time," get ready to kick this black man's ass all over hell's half-acre and make it good so the vet can brag about you back at the precinct house. Don't embarrass him.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 06:57 PM

It doesn't matter WHAT King's record was prior to this, Sawzaw can tell it and embellish King's previous misdeeds however much he wants - the point is that when the officers were at the point of arresting him and he lay on the ground they should have simply cuffed him and taken him into custody.

Blaming the victim doesn't excuse the officers' misbehavior no matter what King had done previously. Choosing to make an example of King or set an example for rookie cops, makes no difference, it was wrong. It was part of the arrogance of deciding to mete out their own justice that law enforcement is regularly accused of.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Jeri
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 07:17 PM

There was an interview with him on NPR this morning. He said he had headaches from the beating. He said they repaired his shattered eye socket by partially removing his eye and installing a metal plate so the eye wouldn't sink into his skull. He forgave the men who did it. [My opinion is forgiveness helps the victim more than the forgiven, but some feel like they're giving something away.]

He did bad things to other people once, but turned his life around. He did bad things to himself, but turned his life around. [My opinion is we all have many faults, whether it's criminal activity, or simply passing judgement on people we don't know, but it's not as universal to try to improve ourselves and manage to do it.]

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: gnu
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 07:39 PM

And so it spirals away from respect for a man who, as Bobert said, should have had a better life. Seems to me Bobert was saying that it was sad that King fell upon bad times. True enough. And truly sad.

Don't get me wrong. If I was there and he came at me I woulda kicked his ass too. What pisses me off is that he had to have his ass kicked. The land of the free and the home of the impoverished takin drugs and alcohol to numb the pain ain't workin fer guys like him.

Maybe, with all that attitude and strength, he shoulda been recruited by one a them "security" companies ta provide "security" in the Iraqisyrialybiaafghanistan territories?

Sorry to do just what I wished would not happen.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: kendall
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 08:15 PM

Greg F, read my post carefully. No where did I imply that.

Any of you who have never been in that situation can not be objective.
Cops are supposed to be above all that "Jump and strike" stuff, but, they are as human as we are. If you were never there you can not know what you would do.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Bobert
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 08:29 PM

The Bible talks about grace... Grace is hard to explain but, no matter Rodney King's past, when he uttered thos words after the LA riots he was uttering nothing but grace...

Some people think that bad people can't be good... They point to Senator Robert Byrd's KKKpast and won't allow themselves to see the goodness...

Vry sad to not see the goodness...

Dale Carnegie once said, "If you can't say something nice about someone then you haven't looked long enough"...

Give the man a break...

B~

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Elmore
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 08:58 PM

Sorry to hear this. He did the best he could. Nobody starts his life planning to become an alchoholic and drown in a pool at age 47.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Sawzaw
Date: 18 Jun 12 - 09:24 PM

It was not my description.

Now tell us what happened when Rodney beat his wife. Blow by Blow please and don't leave anything out.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: Greg F.
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 09:44 AM

Cops are supposed to be above all that "Jump and strike" stuff, but, they are as human as we are.

Couldn't agree more, Kendall. And when they screw up, they should have to take the consequences, just like the rest of us humans.

Subject: RE: Obit: Rodney King
From: kendall
Date: 19 Jun 12 - 12:23 PM

YES!