King Found At Bottom Of Pool

The man whose vicious police beating sparked the L.A. Riots has died. TMZ reports that Rodney King passed away early this morning. And while details are still forthcoming, sources say his fiancée found him dead at the bottom of a pool. Police were reportedly called to the scene around 5:45 a.m. where they removed him from the pool and attempted CPR. He was later pronounced dead at 6:11 AM. A drowning investigation is said to be pending.

In 1991 King made headlines after he was brutalized by LAPD in a now infamous video. When the officers involved in the incident were acquitted the following year, it caused the L.A. Riots that left 54 people dead and $1 billion in property damages.

Most recently King spoke out on the death of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teen who was fatally shot by a neighborhood watchman. “The horrifying sound of a young black male screaming for his life on a 911 call reminded me of my horrifying scream on a videotape 20 years ago,” said King. “At that time, I thought I was going to die. Very, very gratefully, I survived. Unfortunately, Trayvon Martin did not. Twenty years after the riots, I still consider myself lucky to have survived that beating,” he said.

This story is still developing…-danielle canada