What happened to cops who assaulted Rodney King? 'Clipped' touches surface of LA riots
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Clipped' on Hulu refreshes haunting memories of the assault inflicted upon Rodney King by LAPD officers in 1991.
Episode 4 of the sports drama series opens with young Doc Rivers (played by Freddie L Fleming) driving amid the LA Riots and returning to his comfy home. Driven by guilt and angst, he wants to call Bob Costas to put out a statement.
While 'Clipped' doesn't delve deeper into Rodney King's story, here’s everything you need to know about the incident that shook LA in the 90s.
Rodney King's assault case
Rodney King was born in 1965 and grew up in Southern California. As per Grunge, he worked in construction before being convicted of robbery in his early 20s. By 1991, he was out of jail but still on parole.
King was 25 when he became a victim to police brutality. In the early hours of March 3, 1991, King led police on a high-speed chase in the San Fernando Valley.
When he finally stopped, he and his friends were ordered out of the car. LAPD officers then brutally beat King with batons, kicked him, and used a stun gun on him. This assault was partially filmed by a nearby resident and later shown on TV worldwide.
After the chase and beating, officers claimed King was not cooperative, which led to the violent altercation.
A report by Human Rights Watch claims when the man who filmed the incident and King's brother tried to file a report, they were shoved away. The cops filed false reports of what happened.
Were the cops convicted in Rodney King's assault case?
In 1992, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault which led to riots in Los Angeles that lasted six days. By the time law and order were restored, the riots had already claimed over 50 lives and more than 2,000 injuries.
The officers were later tried on federal charges of violating King's civil rights. In 1993, Sergeant Stacey Koon and Officer Laurence Powell were convicted and sentenced to 30 months in prison, as reported by Grunge.
The other two cops- Timothy Wind and Ted Briseno avoided jail time but were fired from their jobs.
If the incident had not been filmed and telecasted on news channels, King would have never received justice.
Where are the convicted cops now?
CNN, in its 1997 report, informed that Ted Briseno was working in private security.
On the other hand, Timothy Wind took a part-time job as a community service officer for the Culver City Police Department in 1994. He left this job in 2000 and enrolled himself in a law school, reports LA Times.
After serving 30 months in prison, Sergeant Stacey Koon wrote a book called 'Presumed Guilty: The Tragedy of the Rodney King Affair'. A 2014 Inside Edition report revealed that he had been working as a limo driver since 2012.
Laurence Powell worked in the computer retailing industry after coming out of jail, says LA Times.
How to stream 'Clipped'?
After briefly touching upon Rodney King's assault case via a flashback in Episode 4, the narrative will bring back the focus on Donald Sterling and V Stiviano in Episode 5.
Four episodes of 'Clipped' are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+.
'Clipped' Episode 5 will drop on June 25 followed by the finale episode on July 2.
'Clipped' trailer