SS other band

THE camera never lies,
it is said. But there was
never a bigger lie than
that.

Remember the Rodney
King affair? Five years ago you
saw how he was beaten up by
the Los Angeles police. The
image stays, just like the
shooting of President
Kennedy. TV is a powerfitl
medium,

Tt can also be 4 criminally
irresponsible medium. So ¢an
print, for that marter, and on
the King occasion print was
almost as bad.

Why did things turn out
that way? Because the King
incident appeared to be a per-
fect example of the “racist”
police assaulting a harmless
“black mororist.”

The facts of the case are

- appalling and are contained in
a book by Sergeant Stacey C.
Koon, one of the four meri
finally found guilty of using
“excessive force.” Its title is
The Tragedy of the Rodney
King Affatr. .

Tt was published in 1992

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1075 Roosevelt Crescent

North Vancouver
{2 blocks behind Avalon Hotel}

a]

Bt CORED LPR SCS

burt has only just come my
way.

When the book appeared a
jury had acquitted the four
cops. But politics demanded
that they be tried again and
found guilty.

It was a clear case of dou-
ble jeopardy, meaning that
people cannot be tried nvice
for the same offence or
alleged offence. Double jeop-
ardy is also unconstitutional,
But even before King the
U.S. Supreme Court had
found it convenient to ignore
the constitution.

The facts of the case are
that King, a convict on parole,
was driving after dark at
speeds of up to 115 mph fora
distance of nearly eight miles.
He was also drunk and on
drugs. Cornered, he had to
stop and he became violent.
So the police had to restrain
him.

It took time. He got 56
truncheon blows on the knees
and other joints, which was

_ strictly according to police

procedures when the person
apprehended becomes 2 threat
and refuses to submit. He suf-
fered no blows to the head.
King is a huge man and
the blows had no effect on

him, Nor, incredibly, did two
50,000-volt “Taser” shocks,

even one of which can — ft
erally -— drop a bull. He just
kept getting up and offering

resistance.

The video tape
was shown world
wide. Thousands
of times.

Presidents and
prime ministers
deplored the police
“brutality.” But
the rape had been
edited,

The bit that
wasn’t aired
showed King
attacking a police
officer.
Furthermore, the
amateur whe taped
the incident didn’t capture
most of the action in which
the “motorist” was forcing
the cops to whack him.

Medical evidence showed
he had not been badly
injured. Within hours he
walked out of the hospital.
But that didn’t count much
with the media, cither.

King’s pvo companions,
also black, were never
touched. They got our of the
car atid did what they were

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DEREK A. CAVE

Trial Lawyer

Get the seitlement

you deserve.

#508, Kapilano 100 Building
100 Park Royal, West Van.

925-7880

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told. The event became a trial
by media and by pressure
groups.

A full-page ad placed in
the Los Angeles Times by the
American Civil Liberties

“The consequence of such massive
and biased reporting was the riot-
ing in which minorities torched
Los Angeles. Fifty-three people
were killed, over 2,000 were
injured, and nearly a billicn dollars
worth of damage was done.”

Union asked:

“WHO DO YOU CALL
WHEN THE GANG
WEARS BLUE UNI-
FORMS?”

This, mark you, before any

tnai had taken place. But in

spite of such condemnation of

the accused (assisted by such
pious organs as The New Yerk
Times), the jury found them
not guilty, It had the facts and
had seen the
unedited tape,
The conse-
quence of such
massive and
biased report-
ing, was the
noting in
which minori-
ties torched
Los Angeles.
Fifty-three
people were
killed, over
2,000 were
injured, and
nearly a billion
dollars worth of damage was
done.

Even after the riots had
been on for 24 hours, TV sta-
tons were stil] running the
doctored tape. According to

rn is

Suncay, December 1, 1996 — North Shore News ~ 7

Accuracy In Media, (AIM)
ABC alone ran it three times.

At the second trial, with a
largely black jury instead of a
largely white one, the “right”
verdict was brought in and
the cops were convicted.
President Bush himself had
promised “justice.”

So the police went to jail
and the harmless mocerist got
$4 million in compensation.
His parole was never revoked
and he has committed several
offences since then. But he is
apparently immune from
prosecution.

The lives of the four
policemen have been ruined.
But who cares about that?

—~ The North Shore News
believes strongly in freedom of
speech and the right of all sides
in a debate to be heard. The
columnists published in the
News present differing points of
view, but those views are not
necessarily those of the newspa-
per itself.

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