Before Eric Garner and George Floyd, there was Rodney King. While he wasn't the first Black man to be a victim of police brutality, his beating was one of the first to be captured on video and broadcast nationwide. And when, despite the vicious behavior seen in the video, the officers involved in the assault were found not guilty, their acquittal sparked what would become known as the Los Angeles Riots of 1992.
Before Eric Garner and George Floyd, there was Rodney King. While he wasn't the first Black man to be a victim of police brutality, his beating was one of the first to be captured on video and broadcast nationwide. And when, despite the vicious behavior seen in the video, the officers involved in the assault were found not guilty, their acquittal sparked what would become known as the Los Angeles Riots of 1992.
For many Americans, one of the most memorable events of the 1990s was the 1991 assault of Rodney King. Video of the brutal altercation, taken by a bystander, was broadcast across the nation, horrifying viewers (via History). The footage sparked a conversation about police brutality and racial equality. It also sparked the 1992 L.A. race riots after the four officers who beat King were acquitted of excessive use of force charges by a predominantly white jury.
Without a doubt, the five days of rioting experienced by Los Angeles in the spring of 1992 rank high as one of the most racially volatile moments in post-Civil War America. After a jury essentially exonerated four Los Angeles policemen accused of using excessive force on an African-American motorist, Rodney King, the city erupted into the costliest urban civil disturbance in American history.
When asked about the LAPD's history of assaulting civilians, the Rodney King beating is often the first one that comes to mind. But over 40 years before the LAPD chased down and assaulted Rodney King, they were implicated in another vicious beating. Bloody Christmas became known as such due to the sheer violence of the beating and its bloody aftermath. And as the story of Bloody Christmas spread, it was the first time that many white people in Los Angeles were confronted with the reality of police brutality.
The role of the police is to serve and protect—and, most of the time, they do a pretty good job. Other times ... not so much. From surveillance that would make the NSA jealous to mistaking genitalia for deadly weapons, law enforcement is anything but perfect.
Learn more about the voices and narratives of African Americans and other people of color.
