Police Brutality Report

Police brutality is a horrible situation that has seemed to stay consistant throughout the years. But at the same time it is also very confusing. A lot of times it is minorities that are involved in police brutality which is a sad situation. It is sad because it creates the question of whether it is becuase of their color, or because they deserve it. Many think that these situations are cruel and racist. On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was involved in a high speed chase in Los Angeles where he was eventually caught and arrested by the L.A.P.D. (Biography 2015). After removing King from his vehicle, the police officers brutally beat him (Biography 2015). What they didn’t know is that George Holliday, an amateur camera man, was videoing the whole
When the police officers tried to pull him over, he tried to evade the police and get away (Biography 2015). The officers ended up finding out later that King was also intoxicated. (Biography 2015) During the chase, there was a helicopter and multiple LAPD units called to pursue Mr. King. (Biography 2015) The reason that the chase and the beating turned into a very serious court case is because King and several witnesses stated that he did not try to resist when he eventually stopped and got out of his vehicle (Biography 2015). Yet the four officers still stunned, kicked, and beat King with their batons (Biography 2015). With video evidence it was discovered that the officers actually ended up tazing and striking Rodney king more than fifty-three times (Biography 2015). As a result, King suffered multiple serious injuries including, but not limited to, bruises, scars from the stun guns that had sent 50,000 bolt shocks through his body, and also he had a broken leg (Biography
The jury though this because of how King told what happened (Doug 2001). The way he explained it, it seemed as if he was just that uneducated or he was too drunk to be able to really remember how everything happened (Doug 2001). So the jury definitely didn’t see him as a sophisticated liar, but a man who was genuinely in fear for his life (Doug 2001). Through his testimony, King didn’t always raise the issue of race (Doug 2001). At first, King denied that race had anything to do with what happened that night (Doug 2001). But as the case went on, King began telling the jury that as he was being hit, the officers were calling him things like killer, or nigger (Doug 2001). When King began stating things about this, the question of whether race played a part in his beating or not began to come up quite often (Doug 2001). But as King was asked during trial if the officers used those words, he replied “I’m not sure” (Doug 2001). The way in which he replied to the jury’s questions made his defense attourney think that he was “very polite and mild-mannered and thoughtful,” and he said that “spells credibility” (Doug 2001). Changes in the defense strategy also worked out in the prosecution’s favor (Doug 2001). Koon seemed very arrogant or cocky to some of the jurors and didn’t seem to impress them at all (Doug 2001). Others like Powell, was very much in fear and