Rodney King

Born

April 2, 1965

Died

June 17, 2012 (aged 47)

Known as

author, activist, taxi driver

Rodney Glen King was an African-American man who on March 3, 1991 became a victim of police brutality when he was severely beaten by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) during his arrest after a high-speed pursuit on California's state freeway, Interstate 210 having initially evaded arrest. George Holliday, an uninvolved resident, saw and filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and then sent the footage, which showed an unarmed King on the ground being beaten, to KTLA, a local news station who broadcast the film, which was then rebroadcast by other stations casting a worldwide spotlight on the LAPD and King.

Biography from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.