King was high on PCP - L.A. officers ordered him several times to put his hands up and he refused.
L.A. officers tried to subdue him - however, being high on PCP is akin to having super-human strength. Even after the videotaped nightstick beatings, King STILL wouldn't get down.
The rest, as they say, has been whitewashed by the MSM and was partially responsible for putting Clinton in the WH.
If Bush Sr. really wanted to win the election of '92, which I have always doubted, he should have had this man shot after the riots started, as probably was legal under the Insurrection Act. Instead, he ordered the DOJ to try the acquitted cops on a federal "Civil Rights" rap. THAT jury, intimidated by the riots and fear of another, voted to convict. Even the ACLU thought that was Double Jeopardy, but then more politically correct heads in that very liberal body prevailed, and they withdrew their complaint.
The very police officer who prevented Rodney King, PCP crazed thug with a very long and sordid record of violence, from being shot by a female CHP Officer was sentenced to 7 years!
Order today is kept in the rougher parts of LA by Korean shopkeepers, who will shoot to kill (and often do) rather than risk looting or property destruction. The more illiterate Democrats in LA have enjoyed their last riot. Now, they know the consequences. A pity they aren't the official consequences.