King, Rodney (1965- )

US citizen whose beating by police in Los Angeles, California, in March 1991 provoked an outcry. The beating, caught on videotape by a bystander, was seen as racially motivated - King being African American and the police officers white - and an example of prevalent police brutality. In April 1992, the four officers charged with using excessive force in subduing King were acquitted by an overwhelmingly white jury in a state court, which led to several days of violent riots in Los Angeles, with 53 deaths, 2,300 injuries, and US$1 billion damages to buildings.

In August 1993, a federal court sentenced two of the police officers to 30 months' imprisonment for violating King's civil rights and King was later awarded US$3.8 million in damages.

Born in Sacramento, California, King's first name is Glen but the media referred to him as Rodney in 1991 because of a mistake in initial police reports. King was pulled over on 3 March 1991 for driving recklessly through a residential neighbourhood. He failed to cooperate with police officers and later tests showed that he was drunk and had marijuana in his system. However, the police response was disproportionate, with videotaped evidence showing him being electrically shocked using Taser guns and kicked and struck 56 times with police batons, while lying on the ground. Since 1991, King has been arrested several times for violence and drug and motoring offences, and has been in drug rehabilitation.