An uninvolved resident, George Holliday, saw and filmed the incident from his nearby balcony and sent the footage, which showed King on the ground being beaten after initially evading arrest, to local news station KTLA. At a press conference, Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates announced that the four officers involved would be disciplined for use of excessive force and that three would face criminal charges. King described how he had knelt, spread his hands out, then slowly tried to move so as not to make any "stupid moves", before being hit across the face by a billy club , and shocked with a stun gun.
King also said he was scared for his life when the officers drew their guns on him. Four officers were eventually tried on charges of use of excessive force.
Of these, three were acquitted; the jury failed to reach a verdict on one charge for the fourth. Within hours of the acquittals, the Los Angeles riots started, sparked by outrage among racial minorities over the trial's verdict and related, longstanding social issues, overlaid with tensions between the African American and Korean American communities.
King advocated for a peaceful end to the conflict. The federal government prosecuted a separate civil rights case, obtaining grand jury indictments of the four officers for violations of King's civil rights. Their trial in a federal district court ended in April , with two of the officers being found guilty and sentenced to serve prison terms. The other two were acquitted of the charges.
He and his four siblings grew up in Altadena, California. He threatened the Korean store owner with an iron bar. King then hit the store owner with a pole before fleeing the scene. King stole two hundred dollars in cash during the robbery. He was convicted and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. He was released on December 27, , after serving one year in prison. King had a daughter with his girlfriend, Carmen Simpson. King and Lyles eventually divorced.
