MikesVikes Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- It was the video tape that shook Los Angeles and the entire nation. Now, 20 years after the Rodney King beating, KTLA looks back at that fateful night. KTLA paid amateur photographer George Holliday $500 for the right to broadcast video that he captured from his apartment on his Sony Handycam of 4 white police officers brutally beating a black man. Holliday dropped the tape off to the KTLA newsroom. Writer and producer Ryan Cowan was the first to see it, and he recalls that it almost didn't make air that night. "When I viewed it, I immediately knew that it was something extraordinary," Cowan says. "We went the rest of the afternoon and deep into the evening trying to find out exactly what had transpired." "There was no paper work, no police report," Cowan remembers. "Stan Chambers started getting in touch with the police department." Chambers asked Lt. Fred Nixon of the LAPD's Press Information Office for his reaction to the tape. Lt. Nixon's response was as follows: "As you and I both know, it's impossible to look at a video tape and tell precisely what the justification was." But Holliday had a decidedly different view of the events he captured on home video. "What could he have done to deserve that?" Holliday asked in an interview with KTLA. "He was lying face down, spread out, and when he was in that position, then they started hitting him." After KTLA's exclusive report, the nation soon learned the beaten man's name: Rodney King. King, then 25, had been convicted of robbery and was on parole. He had admittedly had a few drinks before getting behind the wheel of his car to drive himself home, and had led the officers on a pursuit through the Lakeview Terrace area that ended at the 11700 block of Foothill Boulevard. The officers struck King more than 50 times with wooden batons and shocked him with an electric stun gun. In order to allow the L.A.P.D. time to review the tape, it didn't air until about 10 minutes into the broadcast. KTLA reporter Stan Chambers delivered the exclusive report, which spurred a national debate on race relations and excessive use of force by police. KTLA spoke to King after he was hospitalized. "I thought they were gonna kill me, that's what I thought," King said. "After they tied me up like that...I thought I was gonna die." The officers involved would later be charged in the beating, but no one was prepared what was to come a year later when the officers faced a jury and were found not guilty of assault. That verdict touched off the L.A. Riots, which left 53 people dead and did more that $1 billion in damages. Gerald Ruben was KTLA's executive producer at the time. He recalls there was mixed reaction to KTLA's coverage of the Rodney King beating. "At first we were criticized by some people, saying why are you putting a tape so inflammatory like that on the air? Well I'll tell you this. If we hadn't aired it, someone else would have." KTLA won the Peabody Award for airing the King tape. "When it happened, and you have video, it's your responsibility to share this with those who are watching," Chambers maintains. That "caught-on-tape" concept changed the world of journalism, and changed a city forever. Link I wonder if they filmed this in Wisconsin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I wonder if they filmed this in Wisconsin? i think i saw a palm tree? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 i think i saw a palm tree? I remember Fox News telling us East Coasters that this is the way Californians showed they loved each other. By punching each other senseless. We believed it because Lionel Richie had just gotten beaten up by his wife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikesVikes Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I remember Fox News telling us East Coasters that this is the way Californians showed they loved each other. By punching each other senseless. We believed it because Lionel Richie had just gotten beaten up by his wife. Was Lionel stuck on her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furd Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I guess I'm one that thinks that if you've got a history, booze it up then lead police on a chase you get what you have coming to you. If I ran from the Police and they whipped my ass I wouldn't be that surprised... Side note, I heard he had PCP in his system...? Anyone remember this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEC=UGA Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Rodney had it comin. A little over the top, yeah, but I know where the cops were coming from. Eventually a cop gets tired of putting up with a-holes all day and eventually flips the fu(k out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimC Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 (edited) On a side note, it was free TV night that night. What a coincidence that LA was giving out free TVs the same night Rodney King was beaten. It's no wonder California is so broke today giving away free TVs to anyone that walked in through the broken glass window. ETA: And these were the big-ass TVs that you can't even give away for free today, but they were lined up 10-deep to get theirs back then. Edited March 3, 2011 by TimC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buddahj Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Can't we all just get along? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazinib1 Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 So is there gonna be a re-union? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeeR Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 That verdict touched off the L.A. Riots, which left 53 people dead and did more that $1 billion in damages. I love how that's thrown in as a sort of "oh by the way" remark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
detlef Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 It was twenty years ago today,Sgt. Furman taught the police to swing They've been going in and out of style But they're guaranteed to raise a welt. ... That doesn't rhyme very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piratesownninjas Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 On a side note, it was free TV night that night. What a coincidence that LA was giving out free TVs the same night Rodney King was beaten. It's no wonder California is so broke today giving away free TVs to anyone that walked in through the broken glass window. ETA: And these were the big-ass TVs that you can't even give away for free today, but they were lined up 10-deep to get theirs back then. Winning That doesn't rhyme very well. Bi-Winning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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