This Day in History: br Rodney King Beating br Is Videotaped March 3, 1991 Rodney King, a 25-year-old African American construction worker, is beaten by four white LAPD officers, as George Holliday videotapes br from his nearby apartment. King had been involved in a br high speed chase with police br after he attempted to outrun br California Highway Patrol. Unarmed, King was tased twice, br struck by officer's batons br 33 times and kicked six times. Two days after the beating, br Holliday took the video br to KTLA television. It became an instant media sensation, br leading to charges against the officers, br of which they were acquitted on April 29, 1992. Within hours of the acquittal, br riots broke out in Los Angeles br that would last for six days. The riots resulted in 63 deaths, br thousands of injuries, fires and br over $1 billion in financial losses.