Rodney King

22 Pages 5412 Words

se to his feet after being hit twice by an electric stun gun called a Taser.

The lights and noise awakened George Holliday, the manager of a plumbing company, in his apartment. He walked to his bedroom terrace and pointed his new video camera at the action unfolding ninety feet away. He began recording as King rose to his feet and made a charge in the direction of Powell, but the scene came into focus only as Officers Powell and Wind began striking King with their metal batons. Before King is finally handcuffed about a minute-and-a-half later, Holliday's camera records Powell and Wind inflicting over fifty baton blows and several kicks. It also records Officer Briseno stomping on King's shoulder, causing his head to hit hard against the asphalt. One or more of the baton blows seem to land, contrary to LAPD policy, on King's head. The violence is too far from Holliday's bedroom to pick up the sound of King as he finally says, "Please stop."

After King was handcuffed, Koon asked all officers who participated in the use of force to ...