Rodney King, RIP

[revo]

Los Angeles (CNN) -- Rodney King, whose beating by Los Angeles police in 1991 was caught on camera and sparked riots after the acquittal of the four officers involved, was found dead in his swimming pool Sunday, authorities and his fiancee said. He was 47.

Police in Rialto, California, received a 911 call from King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, about 5:25 a.m., said Capt. Randy DeAnda. Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him and attempted to revive him. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, DeAnda said.

There were no preliminary signs of foul play, he said, and no obvious injuries on King's body. Police are conducting a drowning investigation, DeAnda said, and King's body would be autopsied.

"His fiancee heard him in the rear yard," he said, and found King in the pool when she went outside.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/17/us/obit-rodney-king/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[Fresno Bob]

My wedding party walked out of the post- wedding bar we had made our way to into the Rodney king riots, the San Jose version, we were pretty wasted, but I was pretty pleased to see two of the 12 guys in my wedding party immediately bust some chairs on the curb and start handing out weapons. The guy that grew up in Rio grabbed two metal garbage can lids, handed one to my NCAA blocking fullback buddy and said, "we've got point, don't stop until we are at the hotel!"

[Judge Jude]

The police officer acquittals in spring 1992 led to a midtown Manhattan protest march - same day as Game 7 of the first-ever Rangers-Devils playoff series at Madison Square Garden. My boss told me I could be off if I feared for my safety, which prompted a "PLAYOFFS!" rant from me before the famous Jim Mora one.
Ok, they did lock down the entrances for a short stretch once we early-arrivals got inside. But as usual, the violence happens anywhere but NYC....

[B-Fly]

Sad. Everything about the assault on him, the trial, the response to the acquittals, and now his strange early death - just sad.

[Controller Jacobs]

"People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" - Rodney King, saying just the right thing when it mattered most.

I tried to find a Reginald Denny quote as well, as I recall him being remarkably forgiving after what happened to him in the riots. Ironically, much of what I found was pure hate, so I gave up on my search.

[Young Guns]

Must not have spent much time searching. I did a search and found this article from our local affiliate. Mr. Denny actually shopped at the grocery store I worked at during and after the riots. I distincly recall scolding one of our kids who was bagging for me one afternoon for mocking the white guy with the facial deformaties. He didn't know who he was mocking or what the guy had gone through.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Reginald-Denny-Looks-Back-on-the-LA-Riots--149165165.html

The riots were a scary time. The magnitude of a national scale was nowhere near 9/11 but in regards to the 24/7 press and the overwhelming sense of dread that permeated everything it's the only thing I can compare it to. Perhaps the same for the folks in Oklahoma after the bombing. I was only 27 miles away from the epicenter and from higher vantage points we could see the plumes of smoke rising.

As for Mr. King- I'd agree with B-Fly. It's sad. I watched him on Celebrity Rehab and had hoped that he could turn his life around.

[bryanbutler]

i was in pasadena at the time, and the violence made it that far north. i had to drive to LAX the next day, and driving down the freeways was like being in a war zone. buildings on fire, smoke everywhere, hardly anybody on the freeway (which in LA is saying something). our flight out of LAX was cancelled and we had to go to orange county to fly out, which was interesting driving, and then flying out, on the takeoff, the pilot said we should be prepared for a steep ascent because people had been shooting at planes. yes, it was a steep ascent...

that was not a good time to live in the greater los angeles area. lots of hatred all around.

there is a thread on stealing music online. it pales in comparison to what people think is acceptable in those kinds of situations. mob mentality is a strange thing.