--- description: The brutal beating of King by four policeman took place on Mar. 3, 1991 title: What Happened to Rodney King 25 Years Ago image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83f07b95090742ea/69887ffacd1bba03136ffaae/j-other-people-05.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Courts](/tag/courts/) ## Courts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Beating that Changed America: What Happened to Rodney King 25 Years Ago by [Chelsea Matiash](/author/chelsea-matiash/) and [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) Mar 3, 2016 12:30 PM CUT  Rodney King makes a statement at a Los Angeles news conference on May 1, 1992\. King was the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history. Rodney King makes a statement at a Los Angeles news conference on May 1, 1992\. King was the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history.David Longstreath—AP by [Chelsea Matiash](/author/chelsea-matiash/) and [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/) Mar 3, 2016 12:30 PM CUT It was 25 years ago, on March 3, 1991, that four white Los Angeles police officers brutally beat Rodney King, an unarmed black man. In 81 seconds of video footage captured on a bystander’s camcorder, police were seen kicking and clubbing King 56 times. When the accused officers were tried a year later, a jury [found them not guilty](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/32/ "undefined") despite the taped evidence. In a TIME/CNN [survey](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/27/ "undefined") conducted shortly after the verdict, 57% of those polled (including 45% of black respondents) felt the outcome was the result of racism. Those feelings helped fuel the worst rioting in the U.S. since the 1960s. A quarter century later, here’s a look back at what has become a landmark moment in the nation’s ongoing debate about race, law enforcement and equality. **_Read the 1991 cover story about Rodney King and police brutality, here in the TIME Vault:_** [Law and Disorder](http://time.com/vault/issue/1991-04-01/page/1/ "undefined") **_And read the 1992 cover story about the riots that followed:_** [The Fire This Time](http://time.com/vault/issue/1992-05-11/page/1/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4245175/rodney-king-la-riots-anniversary/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4245175/rodney-king-la-riots-anniversary/"},"headline":"The Beating that Changed America: What Happened to Rodney King 25 Years Ago","datePublished":"2016-03-03T12:30:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T12:02:47.353Z","description":"81 seconds of video shaped modern history","url":"https://time.com/4245175/rodney-king-la-riots-anniversary/","keywords":["Courts","police","video","Civil Rights","riots"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83f07b95090742ea/69887ffacd1bba03136ffaae/j-other-people-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chelsea Matiash","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/chelsea-matiash/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83f07b95090742ea/69887ffacd1bba03136ffaae/j-other-people-05.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rodney King","caption":"Rodney King makes a statement at a Los Angeles news conference on May 1, 1992. King was the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history.","creditText":"David Longstreath—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/courts/","name":"Courts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4245175/rodney-king-la-riots-anniversary/","name":"The Beating that Changed America: What Happened to Rodney King 25 Years Ago"}}]}] ```