ABSTRACT
On April 30, 1992, the announcement of the acquittals of several Los Angeles police officers in connection with the videotaped beating of Rodney Glen King sparked tremendous anger and a major urban rebellion that lasted for several days. When Bryant Allen and Freddie Helms, longtime friends, got into Rodney King's car to go for a drive early in March 1991, they did not anticipate that a year later they would be testifying about that drive in one of the most important trials of the twentieth century. The beating of Rodney King was more than an isolated incident. It took place in a Los Angeles police department with an extensive record of police malpractice. Initially, Los Angeles Police Department chief Daryl F. Gates did not condemn his officers but called the beating an "aberration," and the brutality complaint made by Rodney King's brother was quickly dismissed.
