officers - The Black Vault

• •
f On~ ;hit~· bus driver from the
!San Fernando Valley branded the
~jury's decision "the worst thing
:that has happened in this nation
;since Kennedy was shot in '63." He·
,~po_ke of the officers by saying:
"Those guys are as guilty as guilty
can be."
.
- .. ~ . ----------·~--'"'~--.:'~~ ..... 't~~·n---· -!.'~"... '
dort't see how you could overcome awaiting'a bus·in ~t Los Angeles,·
what I saw on· the :videotape. The , said: "A be~ting is a beating. ·I
videotape is, worth more than ·. thought-th.at t~en w~wn I first ~aw
10,000 words. · · the .tape•.. af?.d I thmk ·.that .rtght
The existence of the tape, which now.." ... : · :·· . . .. · , '
made the King case singu~ar ..':·. '.At Cal State l..o.s Angeles, about
among all brutality :cases jn :Los 40 students watched the verdict
Angeles, carried its message to announcements at the Student Unevery
corner of .the metropolis. .ion. For most, including bla~k stu,..·
Eric Davis and Darryl Strawberry, dent .Kim Williams, the a~quittals
two outfielders with the Los A~-· -provoked QUtr~ge. ·"How,c~. yo~
geles Dodgers whq grew up m 1ook at that video and not ~onvtet?
rAttorney William R. Moore,
who watched \he announcement
of verd~cts in a downtown · she demanded. . . . . ~ ·-:
·In Westwood, Alison Porter, 24,
a ·high ·schooi teaching -assistant, ·
called the·verdicts ridiculous. "Ev-.
erybody has a r.ight to a fair trial."
she said, "but it was obv!ous from
.the tape, they beat -Rodney King ·
and I don't think there was any
.excuse·for it. . , · .
In ·Long· Beach, 'however.; a
woman who declined to _giv:e her.
·name said she was "tickled as }}.ell".
at the verdicts. "I thin~·-Rodney·
,:King deserved ali he got,-and I am
-so glad the police 4id not get taken
upt_ ~!le. ~aid:.."!~·~ ·one. thil::l~ ~~en
you're not breaking the law· and
that happens to you . . . but when
the police have ·to chase you because
you are breaking th.e law, it's
. .. . . KTLA quite ~nother." . ·· · ·
f • · • .'.. . . .·, .Asdarknessfell'overLos'AngelfAPD
o!fic~rs· are shown beatmg ·Rodney G.· Kmg as he lies on the es, about 2.0.00 peop~e gathered at
;~round .m VIdeotape filr;ned by amateur cameraman George Holliday. Murray's inner-city church; cele-
. · · · · • · :bratil)g tneir .unity again~t what
·high-rise, lost a $5 bet that at least . So~th-Central Los Angeles, ex- they considered a·bad jury deci-'
two of the officers would be con- pressed their own shock-and disbe~ sion. "King'!! mother, Angela, ap:-
·victed on felony counts. Cynically, lief. . · ~ _peared before the cheering crowq,
~oore said the case "only con- ';When·r saw [the 'video] ·f .gaying: ''I'IP .not one for speec;hes,
.firmed my view of policing in L.A. ·thought, 'Hey, this guy's got a real -Jmt "I want to thank ;you . : • for
I'm sure jt happens · all the gooa case,' " Davis said at Dodger beipg so support~ve. And we love
time .... Cops kick the ... out of .Stadium. '~Then you .turn around yo!.! a!h~____...;.t:_...:_ . .. . ~·
people and cover.it up with-phony .. and he doesn't have .a case· at all?
. reports." · · That's heavy.'~ . . .
The real victims, he added, are ','It's kind of hard to beli~v~/·
the taxpayers who had to foot the. Strawberry said. . . , . . .
:bill for the officers' conduct. . Film director John. Singleton·
. . . said: "This shows -yte are going
. Another attorney, Nick Gedb, backward. . . . There is· still no :
said he cannot comprehend how :justice in this country.''·
·jur_oElfaile~ to_!!Q!JYi~t,..§Y..!~·%_:':! . __ Anay' ·G_i_~p_e.r.Q~_a:_:.t~~n-ag_e.!..