officers - The Black Vault

F0-350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
·>I'
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(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping in Space Below)
Tape shows 21
pol,ice at beating
By Howard S. Gantman
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
Twenty-one law enforcement
officers were present during the
beating of a black motorist that
was recorded on videotape, not
the 15 previously acknowledged,
a Los Angeles Police Department
spokesman said late
Tuesday.
The new information came
after Assembly Speaker Willie
Brown, the state's top black
public official, and the Los Angeles
County Federation of Labor
joined the growing chorus
demanding Police Chief Daryl
Gates' resignation over the
March 3 beating of Rodney
. "'-..
King.
Steven Lerman, the attorney
hired by King, said he was prepared
to file a $56 million lawsuit
against the city, $1 million
for each blow King suffered
when he was beaten by officers
after a freeway pursuit.
Four officers have been indicted
by the Los Angeles
County grand jury for assaulting
King and face a court hear~
ing Friday. :
Officials from the District At:
torney's Office said the inquiry
is continuing into whether 11
others who watched the beating
but failed to stop it could be
charged with aiding . and abet~
tfng.
Lerman, however, said an enhanced
version of the amateur
;videotape showed as many as 25
officers, including members of
:the California Highway Patrol
and school distri.ct police, cotild
.have been at the scene.
, An LAPD spokesman, Lt.
·Fred Nixon, later acknowledged
that 21 . officers were present.
"In identifying additional Qf­
.ficers at the scene we have not
identified any additional offi.
:cers who are as prominently involved
as the officers who have
already .been indicted by . the
,grand jury;'' Nixon said.
. He declined to say what
. changed the figures, other than
to say that the investigation
. was continuing and that new
facts continue to come out as
they go along. ~
·• Lerman told a news conference
that King, 25, remains in
Da~~: THE OUTLOOK
Edition: WED • MAR 2 0 , 1991
Front Section, Page 1
TiHe:TAPE SHOWS 21 POLICE AT
BEATING
Character:
or
Classification:
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
Indexing:
CIVIL RIGHTS
8 0-3 3B
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fvlAR 2 6 1991
FBI -
LOS ANGELES
an undisclosea. nospttaJ. wnere
he is recuperating from surgery
for broken bones in his skull
and is suffering from severe and
frequent nightmares.
The beating has sparked escalating
calls for the resignation
of Gates.
More than" 200 delegates of
the county Labor Federation,
which represents 700,000
AFL-CIO union members, voted
unanimously Monday night
at a special meeting to approve
a .resolution demanding that
Gates step down, said Bill Robertson,
-the executive secretarytreasurer
of the feder~tion .
"This is a "time of infamy and
shame in the city of Los Ange~
les," said Robertson, a longtime
close associate of· Mayor Tom
Bradley.
At a Sacrament.o news conference,
Brown also called for
Gates' resignation, saying, "I
believe that those officers in~
volved in the beating were carrying
out a pattern of conduct
that has been tolerated in that
police system for a very long
time, that .has not been dealt