officers - The Black Vault

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"I wasn't trying to get a medal or money," says .Holliday. "I hope anyone would come forward in a situation like this."
WHEN L.A. COPS fURIOUSLY BEAT A BlACK
MOTORIST, THEY DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE
ON GEORGE HOlliDAY'S CANDID CAMERA
A
s he went to bed on March 2, George
Holliday looked forward to attending
the Los Angeles Marathon the next day
and then a wedding. He planned to video~
tape both events with his new Sony Handycam.
As it turned out. Holliday. 31, got
to usc his camera a lot sooner than he intended.
At 12:30 A.:vt. Sunday morning he
wa~ jolted awake by the scream of police
siren~ and a helicopter buzzing over hi!>
San Fernando Valley apartment.
Rubbing the sleep from his eyes. he
grabbed his camcorder and began to tape
the nightmari'>h ~ccnc oubide hb !>econdstory
living room window: While more
than half a dozen police officers stood by,
at least three other cops were savagely
beating and kicking a black man who Jay
helpless on the ground. At that moment,
admits Holliday, he did not fully appreciate
the brutality he was seeing through his
viewfinder ... It was almost like I was
watching something on a tiny televisionimages
more than reality." he says.
Even for a day and a half afterward,
Holliday didn't grasp the importance of
what he had ~een. Because he heard nothing
on the local news about the incident.
he assumed nobody would care about his
tape. But on Monday at lunch, talking
about the episode with his wife, Eugenia,
who had witnessed part of the violence, he
couldn't help thinking that something
ought to be done. That afternoon he
called his local police precinct, described
the attack and politely inquired about the
disposition of the case. The desk officer
told him. in effect. to mind his own business.
The brush-off convinced Holliday,
who manages a plumbing business, to go
public. "I believe in what'~ wrong and
what's right:· he say~ ... And what hap-
Photographs by John T. Barr/Gamma-liaison
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