What year did Rodney King die? Settlement amount and more explored 

After the January 10 death of Tyre Nichols after a Memphis police encounter, many netizens have compared the incident to Rodney King's 1991 assault at the hands of Los Angeles police officers.

On March 3, 1991, Rodney King was brutally beaten by Los Angeles police officers after they pulled him over for allegedly drinking and driving. King sustained a broken leg and burn marks from a taser during the incident.

After footage of the beating was released, it sparked outrage among minority communities across Los Angeles. In 1992, after three of the four officers implicated in the assault were acquitted, the city erupted into riots that led to 63 deaths and over 2000 injuries.

While Nichols died in the January 2023 assault, Rodney King lived until June 17, 2012, when he drowned in his swimming pool in an unrelated incident.

---

The Rodney King case impacted the workings of the Los Angeles Police Department

CNN reported that in the wake of the riots, a separate civil case led to two of the officers involved in the incident being convicted of violating King's civil rights. During another 1994 civil rights lawsuit, the City of Los Angeles was deemed to have failed King, and he was awarded $3.8 million in damages from a settlement.

When King won the settlement, his attorney Milton Grimes said that while he was pleased that his client had received the $3.8 million, he did not think it was enough considering the brutal nature of the assault.

Grimes said:

"I was expecting, and I was hopeful, that Mr King's recovery would be greater than $3.8 million, but I am not disatissfied."

In an interview with BBC, civil rights Connie Rice said that the beating of King unleashed a chain of consequences that eventually changed the Los Angeles Police Department for the better.

While Rice acknowledged that police brutality continues to be an issue in Los Angeles and other parts of the country, the 1992 LA riots, as well as the civil cases, eventually led to LA authorities taking more care with police brutality cases.

Rice said:

"With the Rodney King beating and the riots, that was the beginning of the end of the old imperial LAPD. Because LAPD had a very arrogant, 'we're above the law' attitude."

Rice continued:

"It was the first time the black community's complaints couldn't be denied and swept under the rug."

After the LA riots, Rodney King became a symbol of seeking justice against police brutality across the country. However, in an official statement released after his 2012 death, his family wrote that he was a 'human, not a symbol.'

While King's eventual victory over the system may have led to some considerations among Los Angeles authorities, the death of Tyre Nichols indicates that the road to addressing police brutality in the country is a long one. The Guardian reported that in 2022, 1176 people were killed by officers across America.