officers - The Black Vault

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·The rap performer said he did
not condone the violence, particularly
the beating of truck driver
Reginald Denny at one of the flash
points of the unrest.
"I think what they did tp the
truck driver was insane," he said.
"But I thought what happened to
Rodney King was insane."
Powell talked about his fear
during the encounter with King.
Sir Mix-A-Lot, who admits to
owning a home arsenal .and opposing
gun control because it
would leave weapons in the hands
, of criminals and cqps, talked about
· th~ fear of police among young
blacks. '
"The thing we fear most is the
police-understand?" he said to
Powell. "It's almost like you see a
strong black man . . . you had to
beat him down."
Aside from such exchanges,
Powell's appearance with hosts
Ken Minyard and Roger Barkley
appeared to be part of a recent
strategy among King-case defendants
to take their views to the
public. Officer Theodore J. Briseno
recently granted a wide range of
interviews, and a book by Sgt.
Stacey C. Koon is scheduled for
publication next month.
"I think it's important to tell my
side of the story," Powell said. "I
, am not adding to the publicity. This
I case is going to get publicity
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whether I speak or not."
Powell said he believes the beat­
1
: ing 'that King received was within
the LAPD's ·· use-of.-force policy.
"We are taught to use our batons in
that ·manner, and that's what we
did that night," he said.
Reiterating a defense theme in
the earlier trial, Powell said the
beating was sparked by King's
bizarre behavior and his refusal to
cooperate.
"What we did was in reaction to
what Rodney King did," Powel!
said. "He was in control out
there. . . . I never hit him when
he wasn't resisting."
In answer to a caller's question, .
Powell said he, Briseno and former· ·
Officer Timothy E. Wind were
forced to hit King more than 50
times because they were forbidden
by departmental policy from using
a chokehold to subdue suspects.
A chokehold would have ended
the King encounter in seconds,
Powell said, to which Sir Mix-A­
Lot intetjected: "With a chokehold,
I think he'd be dead."
Powell said the King-case defendants
have been made scapegoats
for the ills of the nation'~
police departments.
"I agree there are people out
there who have had bad experiences
with police," he said. "But it's
not my case. But it has polluted my
case."
, After Powell left the studio, Sir
Mix~ A-Lot stayed with the subject.
"A guy like that :is so out of touch
with the streets, it's pitiful," he
said of Powell. ·