Police brutality victim Rodney King 'had been smoking marijuana' before DUI arrest - Daily Mail
Last updated at 4:20 AM on 14th July 2011
Rodney King had allegedly been smoking marijuana rather than drinking alcohol before he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, police have revealed.
King's brutal treatment at the hands of police sparked the 1991 Los Angeles riots, after officers subjected him to a terrible beating when they pulled him over for allegedly drink driving.
He was arrested on the same offence in Southern California yesterday, after police saw him commit several alleged traffic violations.
Mugshot: Rodney King has had another run-in with the police after being arrested for DUI because he had allegedly been smoking cannabis
But today Moreno Valley Police Department detectives told TMZ they pulled him over because he was exhibiting physical signs of cannabis use.
He was booked into jail for investigation of DUI, and bail was set at $2,500.
King was given a sobriety test and also submitted to a blood test, the results of which have not yet been published.
King was the black motorist whose beating by four white police officers in 1991 exposed racial wounds and led to devastating riots.
He has struggled with sobriety and appeared on television's Celebrity Rehab.
A police spokesman said no arraignment date has been set.
Rodney King and his fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, who was a juror at a civil case where he was handed a $3.8m compensation payout
Brutal: Rodney King was hit 56 times with a baton and kicked six times by four police officers
King was last stopped by the police in March, when he was pulled over for jumping a red light, almost 20 years to the day after he was beaten by police in an incident that triggered the LA riots.
That famous incident occurred on March 3 1991, when after a high-speed car chase King was stopped and savagely beaten by baton-wielding officers.
The subsequent acquittal of the officers involved triggered wide-scale riots across LA that caused $1bn worth of damage.
On a recent CNN special, Race and Rage: the Beating of Rodney King, broadcast to mark the 20th anniversary of the beating, King talked about how race relations have changed in the past 20 years.
Injuries: King suffered from skull fractures and brain and kidney damage after the brutal assault
King also said he forgave the officers involved in the 1991 beating.
'I've been given a break many times in life, everybody's entitled to a break,' he said. 'I didn't die, you know what I mean?'
On that March night in 1991 police tried to stop King, who was driving a car with two friends, on suspicion of drink driving.
According to Kings own statements, he refused to pull the car over because a DUI would violate his parole for a previous robbery conviction.
When he was finally stopped a nearby resident decided to film what was going on outside his door having heard the police sirens.
George Holliday went out and recorded the brutal attack on King, who was beaten with batons as he lay on the ground.
King can be seen crawling away and cowering in pain as they hit him 56 times with their batons and kick him six times as he shields himself at the side of the road.
He suffered skull fractures and brain and kidney damage after the brutal assault.
Eleven months later on February 3, 1992, four police officers were taken to court over the beating but when three of them were acquitted and a mistrial was declared on the fourth rioting broke out.
Within half an hour of the verdict a crowd of African Americans had gathered outside Los Angeles County Courthouse, even though the case was heard elsewhere.
Two hours later and the city had turned into a war zone with widespread looting, fires and people were badly beaten up.
King's beating sparked riots across LA. This photo shows policemen detaining two suspected looters
By the end of the riots 55 people were dead, 2,000 injured and 12,000 had been arrested.
Two officers, Sergeant Stacey Koon and officer Laurence Powell, were later convicted of federal civil rights violations.
On the third day of rioting, King said: 'People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?' - a day after Bill Cosby went on TV asking people to stop what they were doing and watch the final episode of The Cosby Show instead.
King has not stayed out of trouble since then - in 2004 he pleaded guilty to driving while on drugs and reckless driving.
His fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, was a juror in King's civil case against the City of Los Angeles.
According to witnesses she winked at him throughout the case and King claimed he pictured her with a halo over her head.
Comments
Post a Comment