George Holliday took his tape of the event to Los Angeles television station KTLA. News producers at KTLA ran it on the evening news. CNN picked up the tape the next day.

As the videotape begins, it shows that King rose from the ground and charged toward Officer Powell. Powell took a step and used his baton to strike King on the side of his head. King fell to the ground. From the 18th to the 30th second on the videotape, King attempted to rise, but Powell and Wind each struck him with their batons to prevent him from doing so. From the 35th to the 51st second, Powell administered repeated blows to King's lower extremities; one of the blows fractured King's leg. At the 55th second, Powell struck King on the chest, and King rolled over and lay prone. At that point, the officers stepped back and observed King for about 10 seconds. Powell began to reach for his handcuffs. (At the sentencing phase, the District Court found that Powell no longer perceived King to be a threat at this point.)

At one-minute-five-seconds (1:05) on the videotape, Briseno, in the District Court's words, "stomped" on King's upper back or neck. King's body writhed in response. At 1:07, Powell and Wind again began to strike King with a series of baton blows, and Wind kicked him in the upper thoracic or cervical area six times until 1:26. At about 1:29, King put his hands behind his back and was handcuffed. Where the baton blows fell and the intentions of King and the officers at various points were contested at trial…

Powell radioed for an ambulance. He sent two messages over a communications network to the other officers that said 'ooops' and 'I havent [sic] beaten anyone this bad in a long time.’ Koon sent a message to the police station that said: ‘Unit just had a big time use of force. . . . Tased and beat the suspect of CHP pursuit big time.' Learning that King worked at Dodger Stadium, Powell said to King: 'We played a little ball tonight, didn't we Rodney? . . . You know, we played a little ball, we played a little hardball tonight, we hit quite a few home runs. . . Yes, we played a little ball and you lost and we won.'

King was taken to a hospital where he was treated for a fractured leg, multiple facial fractures, and numerous bruises and contusions.

 

Description excerpted from 1996 Supreme Court decision in the case of Rodney King, Koon v. United States, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy

A poll taken in Los Angeles after the tape had been running showed that 92% of those polled believed that excessive force was used against Rodney King. Within 4 days of the screening, four white officers were charged with excessive use of force. A year later, on April 29, 1992, a jury consisting of 12 residents from the distant suburbs of Ventura County — nine white, one Latino, one biracial, one Asian — found the four officers not guilty. It was only minutes before riots broke out in Los Angeles. leaving more than 40 people dead, thousands injured and more than $1 billion in damage. On August 4, 1992, a federal grand jury indicted the four officers under 18 U.S.C. § 242, charging them with violating King's constitutional rights, the jury convicted two of the four officers originally charged.