Rodney King dead
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:03 pmRodney King, whose savage beating at the hands of Los Angeles police officers led to widespread rioting and a reassessment of race-relations in America, has died.
The 47-year-old's body was discovered by his fiancee at his swimming pool in Rialto, California, early Sunday morning.
Police pulled King from the water but were unable to resuscitate him. Foul play is not thought to have played a part in the death of a man whose life will forever be associated with one night of brutal violence, and its long-lasting impact on American society.
In an interview with the Guardian just last month, King acknowledged the role that his beatings played in the narrative of modern race-relations in the US.
"I'm comfortable with my position in American history," he said.
The incident that elevated King to a national symbol of racial prejudice occurred on 3 March 1991.
In the early morning hours of that day, the then-25-year-old was subjected to vicious assault at the hands of four white police officers at the side of a highway in Los Angeles.
King, on parole for a robbery conviction at the time, was surrounded by officers following a high-speed police chase through the city.
Lying on ground, he proceeded to be pummelled by the cops, who he later alleged yelled: "We are going to kill you, nigger."
The attack left King with severe injuries including a fractured skull and damage to internal organs. Three surgeons operated for five hours on his badly beaten body.
He said of the attack in an interview with the Guardian: "It was like being raped, stripped of everything, being beaten near to death there on the concrete, on the asphalt.
"I just knew how it felt to be a slave. I felt like I was in another world."
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