0 h 45 min, 3 mars 1991 ans - Beating of Rodney King

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Early in the morning of Sunday, March 3rd, 1991, Rodney King, with his friends Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, were driving a 1987 Hyundai Excel west on the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. The three had spent the night watching basketball and drinking at a friend's house in Los Angeles. At 12:30 a.m., officers Tim and Melanie Singer, husband and wife members of the California Highway Patrol, noticed King's car speeding on the freeway. They pursued King with lights and sirens, and the pursuit reached 117 mph (188 km/h), while King refused to pull over. King would later say he fled the police hoping to avoid a driving under the influence charge and the parole violation that could follow.

King left the freeway near the Hansen Dam Recreation Area and the pursuit continued through residential streets at speeds ranging from 55 to 80 miles per hour (90 to 130 km/h), and through at least one red light. By this point, several police cars and a police helicopter had joined in the pursuit. After approximately 8 miles (13 km), officers cornered King in his car. The first five Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers to arrive were Stacey Koon, Laurence Powell, Timothy Wind, Theodore Briseno and Rolando Solano.

Officer Tim Singer ordered King and his two passengers to exit the vehicle and to lie face down on the ground. Allen claims that he was manhandled, kicked, stomped, taunted and threatened. Helms was hit on the head while lying on the ground; he was treated for a laceration on the top of his head. His bloody baseball cap was turned over to police. King remained in the car. When he emerged, King was reported to have giggled, to have patted the ground and waved to the police helicopter overhead. King grabbed his buttocks, which Officer Melanie Singer took to mean King was reaching for a weapon, though he was later found to be unarmed. She drew her pistol and pointed it at King, ordering him to lie on the ground. Singer approached, gun drawn, preparing to arrest him. At this point, Koon, the ranking officer at the scene, told Singer that the LAPD was taking command and ordered all officers to holster their weapons.

According to the official report, LAPD Sergeant Koon ordered the four other LAPD officers at the scene—Briseno, Powell, Solano and Wind—to subdue and handcuff King using a technique called a "swarm", where multiple officers grab a suspect with empty hands, to overcome potential resistance quickly. The four officers claim King resisted attempts to restrain him when he stood up to remove Officers Powell and Briseno from his back. Both King and witnesses dispute that claim. The officers would also testify later that they believed King was under the influence of phencyclidine (PCP), although King's toxicology tested negative for the drug.

At this point, video recording shot by George Holliday, a Plumbing salesman and amateur videographer who shot the incident on his camcorder from his apartment near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Osborne Street in Lake View Terrace, shows King on the ground after being tasered by Koon. He rises and rushes toward Powell—as argued in court, either to attack Powell or to flee—and King and Powell collided in a rush.  Taser wire can be seen on King's body. Officer Powell strikes King with his baton, and King is knocked to the ground. Powell strikes King several more times with his baton. Briseno moves in, attempting to stop Powell from striking again, and Powell stands back. Koon reportedly said, "Stop! Stop! That's enough! That's enough!" King rises again, to his knees; Powell and Wind are seen hitting King with their batons.

Koon acknowledged ordering the continued use of batons, directing Powell and Wind to strike King with "power strokes". According to Koon, Powell and Wind used "bursts of power strokes, then backed off". The officers beat King. In the videotape, King continues to try to stand again. Koon orders the officers to "hit his joints, hit the wrists, hit his elbows, hit his knees, hit his ankles". Officers Wind, Briseno, and Powell attempted numerous baton strikes on King, resulting in some misses but with 33 blows hitting King, plus seven kicks. The officers again "swarm" King, but this time a total of eight officers are involved in the swarm. King is placed in handcuffs and cord cuffs, restraining his arms and legs. King is dragged on his abdomen to the side of the road to await the arrival of emergency medical rescue.

Two days later (March 5th), George Holliday called LAPD headquarters at Parker Center to let the police department know that he had a videotape of the incident. Still, he could not find anyone interested in seeing the video. He went to KTLA, a local television station, with his recording. KTLA's Warren Wilson was the first reporter to take on the story, interviewing King inside his jail ward. Holliday, whose video camera was in another part of his residence, was unable to retrieve it until the officers were already in the act of beating King. The footage as a whole became an instant media sensation. Portions were aired numerous times, and it "turned what would otherwise have been a violent, but soon forgotten, encounter between the Los Angeles police and an uncooperative suspect into one of the most widely watched and discussed incidents of its kind".

Several "copwatch" organizations subsequently were started throughout the United States to safeguard against police abuse, including an umbrella group, October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality. In 1992, these clips were added in the opening credits of the film Malcolm X. On Father's Day, June 17th, 2012, King's partner, Cynthia Kelley, found him dead underwater at the bottom of his swimming pool. On September 19th, 2021, Holliday died from complications of COVID-19.

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