officers - The Black Vault

FD·350 (Rev. 5·8·81)
••
(Indicate page, name of
newspaper, city and state.)
(Mount Clipping In Space Below)
.When HUman· Rights Are
~ ~ ~ ... • ~ .. u,..... "'. ' !iNt'' ~ • ' ' • .1'.--- - --· ,. - ...
~~·-·;
,Violated
. "':
Did race play a role in the brutal
beating of Rodney King, t)le black
man who was stopped, then ferociously
clubbed and sa~agely· kicked
by a group of white police officers
following a chase prompted by a
traffic violation?
In the wake of the shocking beat­
·ing, which was videotaped by an
, amateur cameraman and broadcast
nationally.:_and other recent incidents
involving black athletes-a
growfng'_number of civil rights lead-·
. ers are ·accusing the LAPD of a
pattern of disparate treatment against
·minorities. Those charges, of course,·
must be investigated fully.
Los Angeles Police ehief Daryl
Gates has said the department can
turn up absolutely -no racial evidence
in the case of King, except for the fact
tht>t the 15 officers were white and
tbl' suspect was black. No racial
·- epithets were recorded, according to
Gates, and the yictim · has said he
t didn't believ~ the beating was-racially
~ '" ~ .
.'
... ,.
:motivated:
'fhe Jury is out, so. to speak, on
whether there was some racial motivation
in the King beating.' But it's
important to remember that a beating
doesn't have to be racial to violate
civil rights. If a white person believed
officers used excessive force against
him, he would be entitled to pursue a
civil rights complaint.
All Americans enjoy federally recognized
and constitutionally based
civil rights to due process and equal
protection u_nder the law. These protections,
which evolved after- the
Civil War and take precedence Qver
state policies, are not race-based.
The right to due process is at the
heart of police brutality· complaints ..
That federal protection guarantees a
su~pect will be arraigned, tried, acquitted
or convicted and sentenced in
a court of law. When police brutality
is .alleged, .however, the victim is
charging, in effect, that police officers
tJ;ied 8:rtd P~?,isheq ~jm on the spot.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
DaEd!t~: . TUES. I HAR 12 I 1991
11on.
•
Metro Sect1on 1 Page 6
Title:
WHEN HU!4A.N RIGHTS ARE
VIOLATED
CIVIL RIGHTS
Character:
or
ClassifiCation: 80-3 3 B
Submitting Office:
IDS ANGELES
Indexing:
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SEARCHED
SER!AUZEO
MAR 19 1991
FBI -
fiLE0·----1
LOS ANGELES p
lA~
L~~ . The V. s. · D~~~t~~nt of Justice:: ..
t has at least 2,000 coinp~aints pending
, against law enforcement officers. The""
·FBI investigates these complaintS,!.:
I· but the Justice Department waits
until state actions are completed. The,.,
: Los Angeles County Grand Jury is
• currently weighing the evidence
against officers who participated or
·· watched the King beating without
: interceding. But a few local prosecu
tions will not put an end to tbe outcry,
·nor should they.· "'
~ Two prominent, elected Los Angel-·
!' es officials, Rep. Maxine Waters, ·an·::
1
African-American, and Councilma~~·.
Richard Alatorre, a Latino, plan to
~ hold hearings regarding the police