officers - The Black Vault

•
•what Race-.Are :Yciu?,.- - -
Loud arguments broke out between
whites and blacks outside the courthouse.
·
"What race are you?" a black man
shouted. ·
A white man yelled back, "I''m an
American!" · ' ' ·
The black man then shouted, "~
not judged as Americans!" /
.'
Stones were thrown at Offjcer Pow­
.ell as he left the cour~ho se, said Sgt.
·Dick Southwick of the V. lJliura County·
·Sherr~f's Department. ngry groups o.f;
shoutmg spectators also confronted
Mr. Wind and Sergeant Koon as.tliey_
left the building. · .
. In south-centqil Los Angeles a crowd,
gathered, blocking traffic at an inter-.
,section, pulling a driver out of his truck:
!and beating him. Part of the crowd
~then looted a liquor store. There were·
iisolated incidents of stone- and bottle­
. throwing. :
; The jury's verdicts. flew ~n.the fac~ of In thelos Angeles- Police Department:
. the verd1ct of pubhc opm10n, • wh1ch Under intense pressure, Chief Daryl!
!o~er the past ye~r has co~demned ~e F. Gates announced he would resign his
:y1~eotaped beatmg as J?Ohce brutah~y tenured position, and although he has
im 1ts rawest form. Pres1dent Bush sa1d continued to hold onto office his re­
:the videotape ~ickened h:i'?, and polic_e placement, Willie L. Williams, the Phil­
!departi?ent~ m other c1t1e~ played It adelphia Police Commissioner, was an-.
Jor the1r officers as a ·cautiOnary les- nounced this month.
!son.
The vi!leotape was the central piece
But many civil rig1i:ts--groups and of eyjdepce at the triB:l. As def~nse
1 !black community leaders saiCl'·-::Mr. la\VYeys sough_t explan.atlO~S for th1s or
iKing's beating was unusual only in that 1ha.t.~aton _swmg o~ k1ck, the prosecu­
' it had been captured on videotape. tor urged...J..uro~s s1mp~y to watch the
; The tape became a symbol of whaf tape an~ to 8elieve__t!l~1r eyes. .
·many critics see as a chasm between Arg':lmg that Mr. _.King was makmg
. police officers and the communities potentially threatemrlg movements as
; they protect, of racial bias in law en- he rolled on the ground under t~e
\forcement and of the bunker mentality blo~s, the defense broug~t experts m
1 of some police departments. pohce. procedures t? testify about the
propnety of the actions on the tape. ··1
Review Is Ordered "If reasonable police minds could
! As a result of the publicity, United differ over the propriety of the use of
:states Attorney General Dick Thorn- force on March 3, 1991, then I suggest!
! burgh ordered a review of police-bru• to you there is no proof beyond a real
tality complaints around the nation. An sonable doubt" that the beating was a'
·independent commission headed by criminal assault, argued Michael P.
!warren M. Christopher, a Deputy Sec- Stone, the lawyer for Officer Powell.
:retary of State in the Carter Admin- Mr. White, who presented his own
~.stration, r~_comn:en~e~ broad: ~l_!anges _exper~ to testify that the be~ting was