# The King is dead. (Rodney King dead at 47) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 17, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434 "2012-06-17T16:27:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/41 "2012-06-17T23:44:31Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Afterall, he was only arrested _less than 10 times_ for beating up his wife. That’s an odd way to say “at least one time, twenty-five years ago.” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/42 "2012-06-18T00:05:26Z")
I heard he was scheduled to be on celebrity boxing. Sounds like he 🕶 took a dive. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/43 "2012-06-18T00:15:17Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The Los Angeles Police Department was a far greater threat to decent society than King ever was. That’s my point. Are you sure about that? Or were they just overly brutal with drug addicts, petty criminals, and lowlifes? I don’t keep up but I never heard of any examples of decent citizens being targeted. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/44 "2012-06-18T00:23:31Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Are you sure about that? Or were they just overly brutal with drug addicts, petty criminals, and lowlifes? I don’t keep up but I never heard of any examples of decent citizens being targeted. I think being “overly brutal” to anyone is, at the least, cause for concern. I don’t think any police officer has magical powers that will keep him from making a mistake or losing his/her temper at the wrong time if (s)he is already inclined to do so. If nothing else, the legal system really doesn’t need unnecessary excessive use of force complaints or prosecutorial problems. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/45 "2012-06-18T00:26:48Z")
I only knew about the beating, the following riots, and that he was on Celebrity Rehab. I never heard about all of the other legal problems he had. I’m still shocked that he’s dead though. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/46 "2012-06-18T00:30:20Z")
After reading his rap sheet, all I can feel is relieved he died before he killed anyone. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/47 "2012-06-18T00:49:31Z")
> [@](#): > > According to TMZ, King’s fiancée found him dead at the bottom of a swimming pool. CNN has confirmed his passing. I thought bodies floated when they were dead, or is that just after they start to decompose? ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/48 "2012-06-18T00:57:44Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I think being “overly brutal” to anyone is, at the least, cause for concern. I agree and said so in my penultimate post. My previous post was specifically responding to the claim that… > [@Acsenray](#): > > The Los Angeles Police Department was a far greater threat to decent society than King ever was. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/49 "2012-06-18T01:01:55Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I think some here are missing **ducati’s** point: it appears (please correct me if I’m wrong) that he doesn’t think the LAPD officers involved in the videotaped beating did anything wrong: He doesn’t, but that’s a debate for another thread. Let me know when you’ve been a cop for a few years on a fugitive squad, made hundreds of violent felon arrests and fought with some of the most hateful, cop-hating scum Georgia has to offer in order to serve arrest warrants and bring criminals back to jail where they belong. Please include a picture of the feather you used to tickle them into submission. Then we’ll talk. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/50 "2012-06-18T01:03:30Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > That’s an odd way to say “at least one time, twenty-five years ago.” Once is enough, considering she was sleeping at the time. Besides, it was more than once, if you read the same post I read. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/51 "2012-06-18T01:04:43Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > I thought bodies floated when they were dead, or is that just after they start to decompose? [This staff report](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2092/will-shooting-a-cannon-cause-a-drowned-body-to-rise-to-the-surface) addresses the factors related to sinking/floating bodies. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/52 "2012-06-18T01:05:34Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > I agree and said so in my penultimate post. My previous post was specifically responding to the claim that… I get that. I still don’t think that there’s anything “just” (as in “only,” the same way you meant it) about being “just overly brutal” to anyone, even scumbags. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/53 "2012-06-18T01:22:22Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Are you sure about that? Or were they just overly brutal with drug addicts, petty criminals, and lowlifes? I don’t keep up but I never heard of any examples of decent citizens being targeted. You don’t recall Crash, Rampart? So long as you define “decent” as “white” and “drug addicts, petty criminals, and lowlifes” as “all black and Hispanic youths,” then you’re pretty much right. The L.A.P.D. basically ran a police state in minority neighborhoods enforced with random brutality and frameups. As a bonus, some of were even running their own drug trafficking operations. The Rodney King trial revealed evidence of a faction of cops who engaged in beatings as a form of entertainment. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/54 "2012-06-18T01:25:32Z")
I perhaps need to take a vacation from this board, as the scumminess that comes out of you people is sometimes barely even understandable. Anyway, I remember that shitty trial and the ensuing riots that engulfed my neighborhood like it was yesterday. Bad times. Ah well. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/55 "2012-06-18T01:51:51Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Well, we could dredge up all the 20-year-old jokes— > [@Acsenray](#): > > The L.A.P.D. basically ran a police state in minority neighborhoods enforced with random brutality and frameups. Dammit, I forgot the best one: have you heard the LAPD’s new motto? “We’ll treat you like a King.” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/56 "2012-06-18T02:14:34Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > Why? Seriously? Let’s jump in the Way-Back machine, shall we? > \*\*July 27, 1987: \*\* According to a complaint filed by his wife, King beat her while she was sleeping, then dragged her outside the house and beat her again. King was charged with battery and pleaded “no contest.” > > **November 3, 1989:** King, brandishing a tire iron, ordered a convenience store clerk to empty the cash register. The clerk grabbed the tire iron, causing King to fall backwards and knock over a pie rack. King swung the rack at the clerk and fled the store with $200. King was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, second-degree robbery, and intent to commit great bodily injury. > > \*\*March 3, 1991: \*\* After being seen speeding on the 210 freeway by CHP officers, \*\*King led them on a chase at speeds estimated at up to 110 to 115 mph. \*\* When finally stopped, King refused requests to get into the prone position and appeared to charge one of the officers. He was beaten and arrested. King was charged with felony evading. > > **May 11, 1991:** King was pulled over for having an excessively tinted windshield. > > **May 28, 1991:** King picked up a transvestite prostitute in Hollywood who happened to be under surveillance by LAPD officers. King and the prostitute were observed in an alley engaging in sexual activity. When the prostitute spotted the officers, King sped away, nearly hitting one of them. > > **June 26, 1992:** King’s second wife reported to police that King had hit her and she feared for her life. King was handcuffed and taken to a police station, but his wife then decided against pressing charges. > > **July 16, 1992:** King was arrested at 1:40 A.M. for driving while intoxicated. > \*\* > August 21, 1993:\*\* King crashed into a wall near a downtown Los Angeles nightclub. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.19. King was charged with violating his parole and sent for sixty day to an alcohol treatment center. He was also convicted on the DUI charge and ordered to perform twenty days of community service > \*\* > May 21, 1995:\*\* King was arrested for DUI while on a trip to Pennsylvania. King failed field sobriety tests, but refused to submit to a blood test > \*\* > July 14, 1995:\*\* King got into an argument with his wife while he was driving, pulled off the freeway and ordered her out of the car. When she started to get out, King sped off, leaving her on the highway with a bruised arm. King was charged with assault with a deadly weapon (his car), reckless driving, spousal abuse, and hit-and-run. > \*\* > March 3, 1999:\*\* King allegedly injured the sixteen-year-old girl that he had fathered out of wedlock when he was seventeen, as well as the girl’s mother. King was arrested for injuring the woman, the girl, and for vandalizing property. King claimed that the incident was simply “a family misunderstanding.” > \*\* > September 29, 2001:\*\* King was arrested for indecent exposure and use of the hallucinogenic drug PCP. > > **August 27, 2003,** King was arrested again for speeding and running a red light while under the influence of alcohol. **He failed to yield to police officers and slammed his vehicle into a house** , breaking his pelvis > \*\* > March 3, 2011\*\*, King was stopped by Los Angeles police for driving erratically. He was issued a citation for driving with an expired license. This arrest led to his February 2012 misdemeanor conviction for reckless driving > \*\* > Today:\*\* King’s fiancée is telling friends King had been drinking and **even smoked weed in the hours just before his death.** > Rodney King was an unrepentent, criminal piece of shit who robbed and beat whoever he felt like, drove drunk numerous times - that he was caught, and was a danger to society. When given a lawful order by police officers, 3 of the 4 people in King’s car that fateful night complied immediately. King chose to fight instead. He was subdued with the force necessary to obtain his compliance and effect an arrest. > > His videotaped arrest helped to widen even more the racial gap that exists, erasing decades of progress towards bringing races together. The resulting riots simply illustrate this, not to mention costing a billion dollars and 53 deaths. I submit to you that had King simply complied with a lawful arrest instead of engaging in a life-threatening high speed chase and fight, none of that would have happened. > > His actions throughout his life show a complete disregard for authority, order, and anyone’s life but his own. He should have been removed from society decades ago. > > Fuck him. The King is dead. Long die the King. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/57 "2012-06-18T02:26:40Z")
> [@Martin\_Hyde](#): > > I think he may have even had most/all of his utilities turned off. Not the water apparently. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/58 "2012-06-18T03:08:16Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > You don’t recall Crash, Rampart? So long as you define “decent” as “white” and “drug addicts, petty criminals, and lowlifes” as “all black and Hispanic youths,” then you’re pretty much right. The L.A.P.D. basically ran a police state in minority neighborhoods enforced with random brutality and frameups. I do remember the Crash unit corruption but as I say I didn’t follow it closely. If they did regularly target innocent minorities, I capitulate the point. Regardless, painting them as worse doesn’t make King a good person. He was a violent, repeat offending criminal and a real danger to society. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/59 "2012-06-18T03:14:00Z")
He was found at the “bottom of a swimming pool.” I’m curious why he wasn’t floating. Did someone chain something heavy to him? BBC is mentioning that his fiancee was one of the jurors in his civil case. That’s interesting too. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434/60 "2012-06-18T03:23:02Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > He was found at the “bottom of a swimming pool.” I’m curious why he wasn’t floating. Did someone chain something heavy to him? I think it had something to do with the fact he was a drain on society. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-king-is-dead-rodney-king-dead-at-47/625434.md?page=4)