Rodney King’s death brings public attention to his life and to the issue of police brutality. Rodney King did not seek the public spotlight, it was forced on him. Twenty-one years ago a man testing his new video camera, George Holliday, videotaped four Los Angeles police officers beating King. After viewing the video, many people throughout the country realized that police brutality was real. It allowed these people to see the police violence that African Americans in South Central L.A. saw regularly.

In 1981, when I started representing people who were injured by police officers, I encountered people who didn’t believe police misconduct was a problem.