11/11/2008 01:50:09 AM EST

Rodney King Talks About Beating on Celebrity Rehab

posted by rev24

Yesterday I watched Rodney King on Celebrity Rehab 2 tell his story of what happened when got severely beaten up by the LAPD back in 1991.  Police brutality is one of those things that infuriates me beyond belief, but it wasn't until I heard Rodney talk about his experiences on this show did it quite hit me how such a ruthless act could have such a powerful impact on someone's life.  Below is a clip of Rodney talking with Dr. Drew about the experience:

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Interesting enough, it took Rodney awhile (3rd show) to talk about this traumatic experience.  If you watch Rodney for only a couple minutes, it's very obvious that he's sincere about battling his alcoholism/addiction unlike a number of characters on this show who seem to be there for the publicity.  Also, if you watch the whole clip, at the very end Rodney gives credit to "the gays" for bringing awareness to the case.  At this time when African Americans are getting a lot of deserved flack for the passage of Prop 8, it was refreshing to hear Rodney say what he did.  

Since I'm on the  subject of Celebrity Rehab, I might as well tell you a quick run down on the cast:  Steven Adler, former drummer of Guns N' Roses whose mom kicked him out when he was 11 and hasn't stopped using since coming to the show (one of my favorite people along with Rodney to watch); Gary Busey (complete nut job though behavior possibly excused due to brain injury), some dumbass models addicted to pills (one's kind of hot though the other looks like the typical  Newport Beach plastic surgery nightmare), Rod Stewart's bitch ass son, Nick Conaway aka the OC popping coke snorting "Kenickie" in a wheelchair, and some American Idol chick that seems half-way normal though I have no idea why she's on this show.

Oh yeah, I'm calling you out Dave Koller on your Rodney King stance or lack of.  Please elaborate sometime because from what I heard from you one day in the TYT chatroom somewhat defending the LAPD made no sense at all.


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Rodney King Talks About Beating on Celebrity Rehab | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
absolutely fascinating (none / 0)
thanks for posting rev, I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. I sorta figured this guy was a complete loser based on news clippings, but my reaction to this video was opposite. I was struck by King's comments that he ran because he "knew what was coming". I was living in NYC when the police shot Dialo (or whatever that dude's name was) for threatening them with his wallet (they claimed that it appeared to be a firearm). That wasn't all that long ago. There's been a lot of sunny talk about the deeper meaning of Obama's election over the last couple weeks, the racial healing, usually followed by incredibly vague disqualifiers like "don't get me wrong, we're not 'there' yet". But I suppose this clip gets to the heart of what we're talking about after all, doesn't it? Law enforcement is a vital part of our government. But think about it for a sec. This never, but NEVER happens to white people.

by hazmat on 11/11/2008 01:04:57 AM EST

The Rodney King beating (none / 0)
This clip was interesting to watch.

I feel like I have to defend myself against Rev calling me out for my comments on the Rodney King case in the chat room long ago.  It's hard to defend myself of course because I don't remember exactly what I said. I can tell you this - I did not come close to saying that I thought the police were right for beating King in the manner they did.  What I probably said was some mealy-mouthed cliche that the case is a lot more complicated than people realize and that there is some defense for SOME of the police actions in the incident.

Before I continue, let me assure you Rev, my sympathy lies with the victims of police brutality. In the specific beating incident, my sympathy lies with Rodney, not the police who are  supposed to be the professional authority figures protecting society. (Although when you expand to include Rodney's reckless driving under the influence, he loses a lot of my support, even though he claims in the interview that he was in control of his driving - doubt it).  I feel I need to kiss Rev's ass a bit here and clarify my view because I respect Rev's support for the people against institutional forces that seek to suppress those people, and I want him to know I'm on his side.

Lou Cannon's great book on the Rodney King beating is entitled Official Negligence. It's a highly appropriate title. The beating the officers delivered to Rodney that night was not just individual, animalistic police officers kicking the shit out of some dude. It was in part the consequence of flawed training, deficient police institutions and a remnant of a long history of police abuse, especially toward minorities.  It was truly "official negligence" on the part of the LAPD in addition to despicable individual decisions by the officers that lead to the beating.

That official, institutional negligence in my mind takes some of the blame away from the officers, even though it doesn't absolve them.  How?  One officer, for example, that very same day failed a training exercise to demonstrate whether he could properly use the baton. By LAPD rules, he should not have been allowed on patrol. But he did go on patrol, and ended up encountering Rodney King and delivering some of the baton blows.  Not surprisingly, he didn't use the baton properly, so all he did was injure King without debilitating him.  The blows from the baton weren't achieving the effect he expected, so he kept hitting King.  When your boss implicitly says that how you do something is ok, you tend to do it.

Furthermore, the officers received rather simplistic training in how suspects behave when they are on drugs, with repeated cautions to be alert for the possible presence of a gun.  Even though King was not on PCP and did not have a gun, some of his movements lead the officers to believe the exact opposite, so they in turn amped up the violence.

This list of examples can go quite a bit longer.  So what's my point?  I'm not saying, "Well, everybody fucked up, including King and the officers, so just call the whole thing a draw."  No, I'm actually saying that I pull a little blame off the individual officers and attach it to the LAPD. When I phrase it that way, I can hear Rev saying, "Of Coooouuuuuurrrrsssssse! the LAPD is also to blame.  Why the hell didn't you just say that from the beginning?  Who's going to disagree with that?"

David

by yturks on 11/11/2008 02:16:48 AM EST

Thank you Dave for your Response (none / 0)
First off, I want to say that I'm not out for personal blood/pork.  I've known many cops in my lifetime who are outstanding citizens, however, as you alluded to Dave, there was and is something bigger going on here and here, etc.

Let me make myself clear -  it's sickening to me that in this day and age, bull shit like this is somehow digested by the people; and our institutions that we look up to for guidance continue to give us no direction.  In regards to Rodney, I'm not trying to absolve him of any criminal acts (yes he had a history), however, this man did not deserve what he endured so please don't give me that bullshit PCP argument.  Also it's important to remember the thousands of other people who got beat for racial and/or other reasons (skateboarder here yo) who were not videotaped and did not deserve the brutality they received.  

As the reverend once said - let us look upon each other to do better for the sake of humanity.

by rev24 on 11/11/2008 03:30:17 AM EST

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On a somewhat relevant note (none / 0)
When is it cool to spray down people with truck hoses?  I know the police had to somehow to contain the election night celebration in the city on 11/4, but too bad I was intimidated enough to not film the beat down that follows off camera....

by rev24 on 11/11/2008 05:06:56 AM EST

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Rodney King Talks About Beating on Celebrity Rehab | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 hidden)
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