Rodney King, well-known for being the victim of civil rights violation involving police brutality 21 years ago, was found dead on Sunday in a swimming pool at his home.
On June 17, King's fiancée Cynthia Kelly, whom he shares his house with, found the 47-year old, dead in the swimming pool. There was no evidence of foul play, as stated by the Rialto police. However, according to TMZ, two close friends of Rodney King think his fiancée isn't telling the truth about what happened leading up to his death and they have voiced their suspicions to the cops.
In 1991, the world witnessed an incident that angered and disgusted many. Captured on video was footage that revealed seven Los Angeles police officers surrounding King, an African American, and beating him repeatedly with their batons. This was seen by millions all around the world and sparked tensions between the local African American community and the Los Angeles Police Department, as this was seen as police brutality, racism and social inequality in the city.
Three of the police officers were acquitted, which led to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, in which thousands of people rioted over six days, leading to 53 deaths and over 2,000 injuries. King sued the city over the beating for $3.8 million.
King's life was filled with a roller coaster of drugs and alcohol abuse and multiple arrests, and pleaded for calm during the 1992 riots inquiring at a news conference: "Can we all get along?"
"People look at me like I should have been like Malcolm X or Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks," he told The Los Angeles Times in April. "I should have seen life like that and stay out of trouble, and don't do this and don't do that. But it's hard to live up to some people's expectations."
He published a memoir in April which detailed his struggles; also stating in several interviews that he had not been able to find steady work.
King said he was essentially broke, though he said he received an advance for his book, "The Riot Within: My Journey from Rebellion to Redemption," published to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the riots.
"Obama, he wouldn't have been in office without what happened to me and a lot of black people before me," he told The Los Angeles Times. "He would never have been in that situation, no doubt in my mind. He would get there eventually, but it would have been a lot longer. So I am glad for what I went through. It opened the doors for a lot of people."
King was married twice and his survivors include his three daughters.
In an interview in April, King said he understood how posterity would view him.
"It's taken years to get used to the situation I'm in in life and the weight it holds. One of the cops in the jail said: 'You know what? People are going to know who you are when you're dead and gone. A hundred years from now, people still going to be talking about you.' It's scary, but at the same time it's a blessing."
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