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.
Rodney King Dead at 47: Icon or Agitator?
SodaHead News
2012/06/18 18:26:37
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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?
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?
Top Opinion
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Agitator
+33King 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.
GLAD HE IS WITH HIS GOD NOW...he battled too long with DRUGS and HATE FOR HIS OWN LIFE...
How many years before the next one starts up?
Call it King Day if you will. His past criminal record has nothing to do with police abuse of power & the police reform that followed as a result.
Another lawbreaker, yes, but with altruistic PRINCIPLES, not egotistic selfishness.
Rodney cancelled what Marty did.
What police reform? still have cops checking cops.
King did still suffer from substance abuse problems (saw a recent interview with him about a week ago), so it would be pretty hard not to believe that was the cause. However, he didn't ask to be thrust into the spotlight either. That's a lot of pressure for someone who didn't ask for all this fame - or notoriety. He DID ask for people to get along, after all. What's the point of demonizing him as an agitator now? Because he was a "black man from the hood with drug problems?"
Anyone watch Nightly News last night? It seems our own "white kids from the 'burbs" have been doing a lot of heroin lately ;-) 30,000 increase in one year alone.
At what point do we forgive people for The Past? Racial tensions between the black community and LAPD are Still happening.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/c...
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi...
The LEGAL term for the actual protocol is "REASONABLE force." What those officers did was decidedly UNreasonable.
A police officer may use as much force as is reasonably necessary to arrest the person. Unreasonable force is assault. Where there is a dispute as to the reasonableness of force used, it will be up to the court to decide whether the force used was reasonable in the circumstances.
Handcuffs or a similar restraint are reasonable force where the person has physically resisted arrest or attempted to run away.
Hindering and resisting arrest
It is an offence to resist or hinder a police officer in the execution of his or her duty – including the making of a lawful arrest [Summary Offences Act 1953 s 6]. Both hindering and resisting involve a conscious and voluntary act on the part of the person concerned. That is, the person concerned must have realised that his/her actions frustrated the police in performing their duty.
Hindering does not have to require physical interference, although it can involve this (e.g. physically preventing police from lawfully entering a property to speak to an occupant). It can include behaviour such as constant and unwarranted interrupting of police whilst attempting to question another person or acting as a ‘lookout’ to warn others of a police presence.
Resistance also requires some kind of positive action designed t...
A police officer may use as much force as is reasonably necessary to arrest the person. Unreasonable force is assault. Where there is a dispute as to the reasonableness of force used, it will be up to the court to decide whether the force used was reasonable in the circumstances.
Handcuffs or a similar restraint are reasonable force where the person has physically resisted arrest or attempted to run away.
Hindering and resisting arrest
It is an offence to resist or hinder a police officer in the execution of his or her duty – including the making of a lawful arrest [Summary Offences Act 1953 s 6]. Both hindering and resisting involve a conscious and voluntary act on the part of the person concerned. That is, the person concerned must have realised that his/her actions frustrated the police in performing their duty.
Hindering does not have to require physical interference, although it can involve this (e.g. physically preventing police from lawfully entering a property to speak to an occupant). It can include behaviour such as constant and unwarranted interrupting of police whilst attempting to question another person or acting as a ‘lookout’ to warn others of a police presence.
Resistance also requires some kind of positive action designed to defeat police in performing their duties. Although most commonly it involves physical force by the person being arrested, it is arguable that even traditional passive resistance techniques commonly employed in civil protests (such as sitting or lying down, linking arms with others and becoming inert and refusing to cooperate) can constitute resisting arrest as they also require physical action, even though not aggressive in effect.
Where direct force is used to resist arrest the likelihood of a police officer being assaulted during the process is high. Assaulting a police officer during the course of their duties is a serious offence attracting heavy penalties under either s 6 of the Summary Offences Act 1953 or s 20 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935.
http://www.lawhandbook.sa.gov...