Rodney King
In 1991, an innocent bystander video-taped Rodney King being severely beaten by police LAPD Sergeant Stacey Koon and officers Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Rolando Solano. The officers were charged with using excessive force and though the trial was originally set in Los Angeles, it was moved to the predominantly white area of Simi Valley, Calif., where the officers were found innocent of the charges. The verdict would cause extreme racial tension across the nation and several violent outbursts.
