Tag Archive | Rodney King

Rodney King Dead At 47.

by Cheval John

Rodney King, the central figure that triggered the race riots in Los Angeles, died early this morning at the age of 47.

According to reports by CNN, police received a 911 call from his fiancee, Cynthia Kelly and discovered his body at the bottom of the swimming pool.

They tried to revive him, but was pronounced dead at a local hospital, Captain Randy DeAnda said.

King was beaten by L.A. Police officers more than 50 times after a routine stop in 1991.

The beatings was caught on video by an unidentified person.

He turned the video over to a local station and from there the video got national attention.

The riots began in L.A. after jurors acquitted the four officers a year later that lasted for three days that left 50 dead and 2,000 injured.

King was paid 3.8 million dollars from the city after the beating.

He said in a 2012 interview that it was his fear of being stop for a drunken driving charge in ’91 that motivated him to evade the police, who were trying to pull him over.