Police Brutality: Rodney King
On April 2, 1995, Rodney King was caught speeding by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). Already a fugitive, and charged with burglary, King was forcibly removed from the car he was in and was brutally beaten by police officers. However, Rodney King was not just beaten; he was kicked in the head, beaten really hard with night sticks, and had his jaw broken. While all of this was going on, the police officers laughed over their walkie talkies about the whole incident. To me, that is unbelievable. Police officers should not be beating someone into submission, especially if they are not even causing any disturbance, or resisting. After the whole ordeal, the defense attorneys for the police officers did not want to have King appear in court right away because of how brutally he was beaten. Instead, they downplayed what had happened to him, because they were trying to convince themselves and those around them that what they did was right, and not completely out of line. There were two trials for the officers; the first trial that was held did not result in any convictions. However, in the second trial, two of the officers were found guilty and charged with violating King's civil rights.
What do you think should be the penalty for officers who take things so far such as in this incident? The officer clearly beat up Rodney King much more than he needed to. Do you think Rodney should be given money or other rewards because of the case and how he was treated by the officers because of his race?
ReplyDeleteRodney Kind is one of many horrible incidents of police brutality and I agree with your state about the trial being pushed forward in order for the justice system to look less harsh when people see his wounds. In this case, the police were found guilty at last but there are so many cases like the Michael Brown case where the police walk free after shooting innocent victims.
ReplyDelete