Quantcast

Rodney King Dead at 47: Icon or Agitator?

SodaHead News 2012/06/18 18:26:37
Related Topics: Rodney King, Drowned
You!
Add Photos & Videos
Rodney King, the victim of an infamous incident of police brutality in 1991, was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool Sunday morning. According to police, there are no signs of foul play, and the death is being ruled as accidental. It will take six to eight weeks for toxicology reports to come through. He was 47 years old at the time of his death.

The 1991 brutality incident made national headlines when a bystander sent in video footage, and the aquittal of three of the officers contributed to the beginning of the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Earlier this year, King told The Times, "I sometimes feel like I'm caught in a vise. Some people feel like I'm some kind of hero. Others hate me. They say I deserved it. Other people, I can hear them mocking me for when I called for an end to the destruction, like I'm a fool for believing in peace." Do you think King was an civil rights icon?

rodney king
Add a comment above

Top Opinion

  • MkB 2012/06/18 21:26:11 (edited)
    Agitator
    MkB
    +33
    King started a dangerous high speed car chase because he was intoxicated and didn't want to violate his parole for a 1989 store robbery. I'm not making excuses for the police brutality. That was uncalled for.

    I feel empathy for Reginald Denny, an innocent truck driver who happened to be driving in the wrong place at the wrong time and got hit on his head by a brick by a black man who didn't give a damn if he killed Denny or not.

Sort By
  • Most Raves
  • Least Raves
  • Oldest
  • Newest
Opinions

  • daniell... Geenie ... 2012/06/21 17:41:51
    danielle.ray.7359
    +5
    He was a career criminal. That's why.
  • Geenie ... daniell... 2012/06/21 18:22:10 (edited)
    Geenie Nabottle
    +2
    That's not true. The man was an alcoholic and throughout his life he was battling his addiction.

    I hope someone dances on your grave when you are gone!
  • BoomLover Geenie ... 2012/06/21 23:31:07
    BoomLover
    +1
    Hummm, question...which is worse, dancing on someone's grave, or pissing on it? Seriously....I plan on not having a grave...
  • daniell... Geenie ... 2012/11/16 20:39:09
    danielle.ray.7359
    Well that was rude. Okay, he was a career criminal and also an alcoholic battled addiction throughout his life. You need to look up things he said about himself, and then you can skip the nasty grave comments.
  • Geenie ... daniell... 2012/11/16 23:39:27
    Geenie Nabottle
    You a day late and a dollar short.... So please SHUT-UP!

    Have a nice day!
  • daniell... Geenie ... 2012/11/21 08:07:53
    danielle.ray.7359
    LOL better late than never. Be nice :-)

    have a great day yourself & a happy Thanksgiving.
  • jere.chievres 2012/06/21 16:59:14
    Agitator
    jere.chievres
    +3
    And a waste of oxygen.
  • norm 2012/06/21 16:00:09
    Agitator
    norm
    +4
    An opportunist. If his high speed car chase prior to the police "beating" ended with him killing an innocent or himself...well...that would have been the end of his fame. Idiot activity brings out the worst in everybody. Including the police.
  • PapaBC 2012/06/21 15:54:06
    Agitator
    PapaBC
    Actually not even an agitator.. Just a guy that was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • BoardinOK 2012/06/21 14:39:41
    Icon
    BoardinOK
    +1
    while I don't find him an "Icon" he's even less of an "Agitator". He did wrong, I'm all good with an a$$ beating, but what they did to him was horrid. I haven't heard anything about Rodney King until recently, so it's kind of hard to be either of these two choices when your not even in the news.
  • Kozmo 2012/06/21 14:34:27
    Agitator
    Kozmo
    +2
    Just another hoodlum who got his 15 min. from a edited video.
  • PeterJH43 2012/06/21 06:56:59
    Agitator
    PeterJH43
    +2
    Did this anti-white "icon" ever oppose the global genocide of whites via mass immigration and "assimilation" imposed on ALL white countries and ONLY white countries?

    Anti-racist is a codeword for anti-white.
  • ~HopelessRomanticM17~ 2012/06/21 06:04:52
    Icon
    ~HopelessRomanticM17~
    +1
    I don't really know who that is...
  • jere.ch... ~Hopele... 2012/06/21 17:01:44
    jere.chievres
    +3
    You have not missed a thing.
  • daniell... ~Hopele... 2012/06/21 17:43:38
    danielle.ray.7359
    +4
    I'm actually happy about that.
  • Elz 2012/06/21 03:33:03
    Icon
    Elz
    i guess to some people he was an icon but i never knew him, i only heard his name a few times.
  • jc 2012/06/21 01:25:39
    Agitator
    jc
    +3
    Definitely was not an icon.Just another poor bastard who was beaten by substance abuse.
  • jere.ch... jc 2012/06/21 17:02:16
    jere.chievres
    +2
    You left out STUPID!
  • Geenie ... jc 2012/06/21 17:08:05
    Geenie Nabottle
    +1
    I think he was actually beaten by public servants....
  • Bill 2012/06/21 01:06:06
    Icon
    Bill
    +3
    He definitely wasn't an agitator!How could he be that,when it was he was almost beaten to death by LA Cops?He never asked nor encouraged anyone to riot(I believe he was recovering from surgery in the hospital).
    Also,I was glad someone finally filmed these crooked cops-they beat people for years,and finally someone got the goods on them!he wasn't a Saint or anything,but he was a human being!
  • American Bill 2012/06/21 02:33:55
    American
    +1
    I totally agree.
  • Kozmo Bill 2012/06/21 14:39:43
    Kozmo
    +1
    If you watch the Full video, it clearly shows he constantly got up when ordered to stay down. The vidoe was cropped showing on the cops striking him, nort them signalling "stay down" so he was, RESISTING ARREST. Then the Watts community thought they were ENTITLED (actually LAME EXCUSE) to riot.
  • Geenie ... Kozmo 2012/06/21 17:09:03
    Geenie Nabottle
    +1
    Oh puhlease!
  • Kozmo Geenie ... 2012/06/21 22:51:42
    Kozmo
    Lame answer, no thumb. Elaborate SVP?
  • Geenie ... Kozmo 2012/06/22 06:24:40
    Geenie Nabottle
    My comment is directed at your sentiment that Rodney King was at fault for what went on that night because he did not willing submit to a brutal beating. Pulverizing someone into submission should not be one of the tools in a police officers tool box IMHO.
  • Kozmo Geenie ... 2012/06/22 07:14:54
    Kozmo
    Speeding while intoxicated while on parole WASN'T his fault? Not to mention resisting arrest with priors, he got what he deserved.

    Sounds like you think he was the 2nd coming.
  • Geenie ... Kozmo 2012/06/22 16:55:11
    Geenie Nabottle
    DUI IS WRONG and COMPLETLY HIS FAULT. I am a firm believer in personal responsibility. However we are a nation of laws and no where in this country is the punishment being beat to a bloody pulp for a DUI on the side of the road while being arrested!
  • Steve R... Bill 2012/06/21 19:02:46
    Steve Rogers
    +1
    Not even close. His injuries were mostly superficial. Broken ankle, bruises lacerations and a fractured facial bone. Treated and out within hrs.
  • Geenie ... Steve R... 2012/06/25 17:19:11
    Geenie Nabottle
    A fractured facial bone and broken ankle is nor superficial! You may want to review what superficial means...
  • Steve R... Geenie ... 2012/06/25 22:44:20
    Steve Rogers
    Mostly Superficial. Read before you comment. My response was to Bill's comment that Mr King was beaten nearly to death.
  • Geenie ... Steve R... 2012/06/26 01:26:15
    Geenie Nabottle
    There is nothing superficial or mostly superficial about injuries that result in fractures and broken bones!
  • Frank Bill 2012/06/21 21:45:41
    Frank
    +2
    Very intelligent and balanced reply, Bill. Rodney King couldn't have agitated anything, and even tried to help calm things down. You're also right that he was certainly no saint or "icon". I also agree that at least this group of hateful cops got exposed. Hateful people just like them approve of what they did, and continue to do. But many were shocked by the revelation, and outraged. Both kinds of human beings have always existed, and always will. I'll just spend the rest of my life pulling for the people who care. :)
  • Kozmo Frank 2012/06/22 07:19:47
    Kozmo
    +1
    As written in Ian Fleming's "The Spy Who Loved Me" (Movie was TOTALLY different), the Sheriff told the heroine near the end that Bond & Criminals 'are cut from the same cloth'.
    "It not what you ARE, but what you DO, that matters.
  • Frank Kozmo 2012/07/31 12:38:06
    Frank
    +1
    Well-stated, Kozmo. Well-stated.
  • Ishmael 2012/06/21 00:59:23
    Icon
    Ishmael
    +6
    King wasn't an Icon OR agitator. He was a VICTIM of Police Brutality, plain and simple. His lesson to all of us was that the police can beat the crap out of ME AND YOU, JUST like King.
  • American Ishmael 2012/06/21 02:34:29
    American
    Amen
  • Frank Ishmael 2012/07/31 12:39:07
    Frank
    Far too true.
  • Inquisitve Kat 2012/06/21 00:57:33
    Icon
    Inquisitve Kat
    A bit of both...
  • ComeOnNow 2012/06/21 00:23:43
    Agitator
    ComeOnNow
    +4
    What beats a king? 4 clubs and apparently a pool.

    RIP mr King. Rest In Pool
  • EDWARD G 2012/06/20 22:04:22
    Icon
    EDWARD G
    An iconic stoner. I never thought of him politically and I doubt he was

See Votes by State

The map above displays the winning answer by region.

News & Politics

2013/06/19 05:08:08

Hot Questions on SodaHead
More Hot Questions

More Community More Originals