Rodney King, RIP

[MOCAŠ]

BBC News - Los Angeles riots figure Rodney King found dead

 

[redbaron]

More riots?

 

[MOCAŠ]

More riots?

Why should his death spark riots? I expect he will be mourned respectfully by his community.

 

[redbaron]

Why should his death spark riots? I expect he will be mourned respectfully by his community.

if he is only mourned by "his" community wouldn't that become a point of conflict with communities that were not "his" or am I misunderstanding your point?

 

[MOCAŠ]

if he is only mourned by "his" community wouldn't that become a point of conflict with communities that were not "his" or am I misunderstanding your point?

Yes, suffice to say that you are misunderstanding my point.

 

[neilrr]

I was at the races at Hollywood Park the day the 1992 riots kicked off in L.A., about 2 miles from the intersection of Normandie & Florence where the truck driver was pulled from his cab & beaten.

As I drove home down the San Diego Freeway to white bread Orange County I could see a lot of fires & plumes of smoke on my left as buildings & businesses were torched. There were no police to be found, they just left the scene.

Don't know what they are like now but LAPD were fierce back then, and I say that as a WASP.

 

[ringway]

I remember seeing that awful footage on television.

The reports on BBC Radio 4 say that the authorities doubt foul play.
Too swift an assumption in the case of a body found at the bottom of a swimming pool?

 

[Scott_F]

As I drove home down the San Diego Freeway to white bread Orange County I could see a lot of fires & plumes of smoke on my left as buildings & businesses were torched. There were no police to be found, they just left the scene.

Sounds like London last August.

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

A poor chap who had a life that was almost nonsensical. A street guy who seemed the product of his neighbourhood in that time, who committed serious crimes but was punished in an inhumane way. He I think acted in a very dignified manner and then a strangely undignified manner when blowing his settlement on gangsta rap and falling back into his past problems. celebrity rehab stints and boxing matches against shamed ex-policeman etc all followed.

I imagine very few of us could walk a mile in his shoes, and hopefully he will get some peace now.

 

[neilrr]

Sort of relevant, at least giving an historical perspective of where L.A.'s finest were coming from, L.A. Confidential L.A. Confidential - Rotten Tomatoes is on Film 4 tonight at 11.05.

If you haven't seen it, it's a great movie.