High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Rodney Glen King (born April 2, 1965) is an African American man who, on 3 March 1991, was the victim of police brutality, committed by Los Angeles police officers. A bystander, George Holliday, videotaped much of the incident from a distance. The footage showed LAPD officers repeatedly striking King with their batons. A portion of this footage was aired by news agencies around the world, causing public outrage that raised tensions between the black community and the LAPD and increased anger over police brutality and social inequalities in the black community and the worldwide community as a whole. Four LAPD officers were later tried in a state court for the beating but were acquitted. The announcement of the acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. A later federal trial for civil rights violations ended with two of the officers found guilty and sent to prison and the other two officers acquitted.