Rodney King
Beating
Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and to lie face down on the ground. Allen claims that he was manhandled, kicked, stomped, taunted and threatened. Helms was hit on the head while lying on the ground; he was treated for a laceration on the top of his head. His bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. King remained in the car. When he emerged, King was reported to have giggled, to have patted the ground and waved to the police helicopter overhead. King grabbed his buttocks, which Officer Melanie Singer took to mean King was reaching for a weapon, though he was later found to be unarmed. She drew her pistol and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. Singer approached, gun drawn, preparing to arrest him. At this point, Koon, the ranking officer at the scene, told Singer that the LAPD was taking command and ordered all officers to holster their weapons.
Charges against police officers and trial
Afterward, the prosecution suggested that the jurors may have acquitted the officers because of becoming desensitized to the violence of the beating, as the defense played the videotape repeatedly in slow motion, breaking it down until its emotional impact was lost.
Los Angeles riots and aftermath
Though few people at first considered race an essential factor in the case, including Rodney King's attorney, Steven Lerman, the Holliday videotape was at the time stirring deep resentment among black people in Los Angeles and other major cities in the United States, where they had often complained of police abuse against their communities. The officers' jury consisted of Ventura County residents: ten white, one mestizo or aboriginal, one Asian. Lead prosecutor Terry White was black. On April 29, 1992, the jury acquitted three of the officers but could not agree on one of the charges against Powell.
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