officers - The Black Vault

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0 ate:
Bush: LAPD beating
tape 'made me sick'
Wilson calls Gates (scapegoat,
By Howard S. Gantman
and Benjamin Shore
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
Even as a drive was launched
Thursday to recall Los Angeles
police Chief Daryl Gates, Gov.
Pete Wilson charged that Gates
was being made a "scapegoat"
· and President Bush urged a fair
hearing for the chief despite the
"sickening" acts of some of his
officers.
As the controversy over the
police beating of Rodney King
took on an increasingly partisan
shape, a citizens group announced
a "blue-ribbon" campaign
to show support for the
embattled chief.
But in his strongest words to
date on the issue, Mayor Tom
Bradley said Gates "may be
damaging the department" by
hanging on and suggested that
if the chief listened to the voice
of the people he would step
down. ·
Wilson, however, told report~
ers during an appearance in Los
Angeles: "I don't think the
chief should resign nor shoul4
people ask for his resignation
until a case can be made that
there has been dereliction or.i
his part." . .
Speaking out for the first
time on the March 3 videotaped
police bludgeoning of :Rodney
King, Bush told reporters at the
White House: "What I saw
made me sick. It was sickening
to see the beating that was rendered,
and there's no· way to
explain that away. It was outrageous."
Bush, at the start of a meet·
ing with Attorney General Dick
Thornburgh and FBI Director
William Sessions, said Gates
"has be~n an e,xemplary __ poJice ~
chief" and suggested any effort
to remove him should be "a
matter for Los Angeles" to decide.
The president said the chief
was "entitled to his say" on the
issue and should get "a credible
·hearing."
Nevertheless, Bush vowed
that a federal. probe of police
abuse in Los Angeles and other
areas of the country would proceed
at full speed.
"Law enforcement officials
cannot place themselves above
the law that they are sworn to
defend," he said. "This administration
will investigate possible
breaches of federal law aggressively
'and prosecute
violators to the full extent of
the ·law." - - ··
Oates' future ·has become a
focal point in the controversy
over the beating of the black
• motorist,by at least three white
police officers as another 22 law
enforcement officials looked on.
THE OUTLOOK
Edition: FRI •, ~lAR 22, 1991
Front Section, Page 1
1ltlel3USH: LAPD BEATING TAPE
''MADE IflE SICK"
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
In de .~ ....
IDS ANGELES
SEARCHED
SERIAUZED
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-33 B
INDEXED
fiLEt>.
MAR 2 7' 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES d
lAM
"The three primary officers
and the sergeant supervising
them face a Los Angeles Superior
Court appearance today to
enter pleas on a grand jury in-
·'dictment that includes charges
·of assault and entering false police
reports.
The investigation is continu­
, ing as prosecutors seek to determine
whether charges will be
rued against the other officers
:who were at the scene but failed
to stop the beating.
King blood analysis
Meanwhile, police announced
·that .an analysis of blood and
urine samples taken from King
five hours after his arrest found
he had alcohol and traces of
marijuana in his system.
Lt. Fred Nixon said the
blood-alcohol content was .079
percent, just under the .08 percent
legal limit for drivers.
The tests also indicated 50
nanograms of cannabinoids, allegedly
indicating a small
amount of marijuana intake.
'Nixon said the information
was being released in response
to media requests. He downplayed
speculation that officials
,, were trying to discredit King.
1
'King's lawyer, Steven Lerman,
had~previously maintained
tbat'his client was a devout Je­
-hovah,s Witness who ,did not
~drink or take drugs. Lerman
-failed to ret~ repea~~ phone
FBI/OOJ