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Rodney King, key figure in LA riots, dead at 47
Posted: Jun 17, 2012 12:36 PM by CJ, The Associated Press
Updated: Jun 18, 2012 8:13 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Rodney King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers led to some of the nation's most destructive race riots, has died at age 47.
Police say King's fiancee called 911 at 5:25 a.m. to report that she found him at the bottom of the swimming pool at their home in Rialto, Calif. Officers arrived to find King in the water and unresponsive, with no signs of foul play. He was transported to Arrowhead Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6:11 a.m.
The San Bernardino County coroner will perform an autopsy within 48 hours.
King was stopped for speeding in March 1991 by four officers who hit him more than 50 times, kicked him and shot him with stun guns. A bystander videotaped the beating.
The officers were acquitted a year later, sparking a riot that would leave 55 people dead and more than 2,000 injured.
King became famous for his plea, "Can we all get along?" in a news conference during the height of the riots.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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