Rodney King dead at 47

racerfink wrote: Some people have trouble understanding... They went WELL BEYOND what it took to subdue him. There were two or three cops that I remember still wailing on him after he was lying face down on the ground. There weren't any of the other cops pinning him down at that point, so it's probably a good bet they have him cuffed at that point. The big cop took two more swings on him at this point of the five sec. clip they showed. I do not dispute any of the other stuff happening, and I'm CERTAINLY not saying cops should just turn the other cheek, but they wailed on him well after they had him subdued.

as hard as it is to believe, cops are people... and people revert to their base instinct after they've had their adrenaline pumping for the last hour trying to catch a guy and then having him try to fight every single one of them once he was caught.

Rodney King earned every single hit he took- and at least as many more for good measure.

novaderrik wrote: as hard as it is to believe, cops are people...

Subject to the laws of the people too. Professional policemen cannot break laws because they are "all hooped up on the syrup". This is a bullE36 M3 argument. The cops deserved every criminal charge they got.

They broke the law they swore to uphold. "I was mad" isn't a good excuse. They deal with criminals every day - acting like it is the mark of a professional.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

novaderrik wrote: as hard as it is to believe, cops are people...

Subject to the laws of the people too. Professional policemen cannot break laws because they are "all hooped up on the syrup". This is a bullE36 M3 argument. The cops deserved every criminal charge they got. They broke the law they swore to uphold. "I was mad" isn't a good excuse. They deal with criminals every day - acting like it is the mark of a professional.

And they got off on those charges.

ThePhranc wrote: And they got off on those charges.

No system is perfect. If that was you and 7 friends "learnin a fool a lesson" you would not have got off. They walked because they were cops - just like Rodney got out of half-a-dozen crimes after the fact because they were afraid of the ACLU.

novaderrik wrote: as hard as it is to believe, cops are people... and people revert to their base instinct after they've had their adrenaline pumping for the last hour trying to catch a guy and then having him try to fight every single one of them once he was caught. Rodney King earned every single hit he took- and at least as many more for good measure.

And what should have been King's base instinct while being beaten? To not try to flee or stand up and thwart his protectors?

The problem isn't whether he deserved being beaten or not, it is that the beating exceeded what was legally and morally equitable. Being scared or angry or hyped on andrenaline does not absolve one of their lawbreaking. And the Federal courts agreed.

Chris Rock said it best Everybody knows, if the police have to chase you, they are bringing an asskicking with them.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote:

ThePhranc wrote: And they got off on those charges.

No system is perfect. If that was you and 7 friends "learnin a fool a lesson" you would not have got off. They walked because they were cops - just like Rodney got out of half-a-dozen crimes after the fact because they were afraid of the ACLU.

I'm pretty sure if me and 7 buddies beat down a guy high on PCP after he ran through the city at over 100 mph and attacked us we'd get off pretty light.

Cops are heroes, guy had it coming, thump thump thump. I sure wouldn't wanna live in the kind of society some of you seem to advocate.

In reply to LainfordExpress:

He wasn't getting beaten until he resisted arrest.

I like how most of the stories I've read about this all word it exactly the same.

It's not "He was leading police on a high speed chase, and then resisted arrest. Then the cops kicked the E36 M3 out of him. Oh yeah, did we mention he was high on PCP, cause he totally was."

Instead it's "He was beaten after the police pulled him over for speeding"

No mention of drugs, no mention of exactly how fast or where he was doing it, and not even any mention of him resisting. Every single one makes it sound like he got dragged out of the car and whomped on for doing 55 in a 45.

Media is shiny happy people, I swear to berkeleying god.

Grizz wrote: Every single one makes it sound like he got dragged out of the car and whomped on for doing 55 in a 45.

If this were the case, I'd worry like Jay about living here. But there was more to the story.

Christ, let the man rest in peace.

Don't blame us, blame the media. They brought him back into the spotlight.

Do you know who else died yesterday?

Lots of folks who are decent human beings.

I love this site

Anti-stance wrote: I am not saying cops beating your ass is right but...

That's a big "but". I'm saying cops beating your ass is not right. Period.

Images of Reginald Denny don't excuse our police for beating King. There are bad people. If you don't want to, or aren't able to deal with them in accordance with our laws, police work may not be the career for you. If you want to beat people half to death, be a street thug... or a lawyer.

While the years were not kind to Mr. King, they certainly were to Hyundai!

Wally wrote: Chris Rock said it best Everybody knows, if the police have to chase you, they are bringing an asskicking with them.

Great tutorial, all comedy aside it's absoberkeleyinglutely true

Couple notes:

Wikipedia says toxicology reports he was negative for PCP. So either he was high on something else, drunk, or really just an idiot – not ruling that out even if he was high.

He used up all his get out of jail free cards from the incident and then some after the fact.

Finally- I guess I lived a sheltered life or something, needed to consult the Wikipedia again to see what PCP is all about. JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEsus. People do that for fun?

In reply to Jake:

I say that about a lot of drugs- what about that sounded good to you? Seems like this whole "bath salts" deal is the latest. What tha? I have no idea what the crap is, but there is nothing about it that makes me say "hey, I'd like to give that a shot!"

fast_eddie_72 wrote: In reply to Jake: I say that about a lot of drugs- what about that sounded good to you?

I'm not certain, but I think it's the part where you get high.

Jake wrote: Wikipedia says toxicology reports he was negative for PCP.

Doesn't it generally take several weeks for toxicology reports?

poopshovel wrote:

fast_eddie_72 wrote: In reply to Jake: I say that about a lot of drugs- what about that sounded good to you?

I'm not certain, but I think it's the part where you get high.

I can think of several ways to do that without finding myself gnawing some dude's face off at 3AM.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: In reply to Jake: I say that about a lot of drugs- what about that sounded good to you? Seems like this whole "bath salts" deal is the latest. What tha? I have no idea what the crap is, but there is *nothing* about it that makes me say "hey, I'd like to give *that* a shot!"

[Robin Williams] 'Cocaine, what a wonderful drug. It makes you paranoid and impotent. Yeah, gimme more of that.' [/Robin Williams]

Somewhat ironic note: his fiancee called 911 and the police officers who responded to the call pulled him from the swimming pool and tried to revive him.

dumb asses