King was verbally abusive when asked to move so LaBelle's people could load her luggage onto a cart.
And then King hit LaBelle's driver in the face.
And that's when the bodyguards moved in.
And King -- rather conveniently -- says "he could not remember what happened before or during the attack."
King's lawyer says he consumed "a few alcoholic drinks" -- that's the lawyer talking, so it's safe to assume that Mr. King was somewhat tipsy at the time.
And it isn't "rather convenient" that a person who suffers a concussion after getting his head smashed against concrete should experience some short term memory issues about the moments before and after the attack. It's to be expected.
I'm assuming the standards for acceptance to West Point are generally higher than those for being Patti LaBelle's bodyguard. Until I heard otherwise from disinterested third parties, I would tend to believe the cadet over the meathead who beat him.
King was verbally abusive when asked to move so LaBelle's people could load her luggage onto a cart.What the video actually shows:And then King hit LaBelle's driver in the face.
And that's when the bodyguards moved in.
King stops near the pillar a few feet away from the entourage. He evidences no interest in the entourage. Hetakes out his cellphone, begins a call, pacing and meandering a bit as people on cellphones sometimes do. He turns his back towards the entourage, and comes in and out of the bottom of the video frame. At 22 seconds in the video the one bodyguard (red-shirt) seems to turn towards King.
There may some verbal interchange between King and the bodyguards at that time, hard to tell, and the red-shirt turns away and towards the cars. At 33 seconds the red-shirt turns back towards King, and takes a more aggressive stance, backing hard and deliberately into King, whereupon King raises his left arm, not as a punch but a arm-out defensive hold off, a move any football player or fan knows.
At 40 seconds the three bodyguards are punching King directly to his head, King's right hand is still holding his cell phone. At 46 seconds they knock his head into the concrete pillar, and at 48 seconds he is flailing on the ground.
It appears that the red-shirted body guard may have kicked him hard then, and perhaps also one of the other bodyguards.
The video differs from your retelling, or the retelling of the bodyguards, if that is what you are quoting. It is not at all uncommon for someone punched and battered to the head so aggressively to lose any recollection of events. It is a good thing the video tells the tale, isn't it?
“King was verbally abusive when asked to move so LaBelle’s people could load her luggage onto a cart.”
Depends upon how politely the thug “asked” him to move. I don’t take orders from people who aren’t in my chain of command or otherwise allowed to boss me around.
Of course you are aware that you are quoting what LaBelle’s people told the police.
The police that didn’t question the several eyewitnesses at the scene.
The police that didn’t review the video until AFTER making the report.
The police that posed with LaBelle for photos.
The police that are now ‘reviewing’ their actions ...