George Holliday, The Man Who Filmed Rodney King Being Assaulted By Cops In 1991, Passes Away After COVID-19 Battle
George Holliday, the man that captured the footage of the assault on Rodney King by the LAPD back in 1991, has passed away from COVID-19.
According to TMZ, his business partner revealed that Holliday died on Sunday, September 19, after contracting coronavirus, which he had been hospitalized with since the middle of August in Simi Valley, California.
The 61-year-old was, according to the outlet, not vaccinated.
Upon first being admitted the the hospital, Holliday was hooked up to an an oxygen tube. When things started to take a turn for the worst, he was then put on a ventilator.
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Holliday suffered with blood clots and internal bleeding that got increasingly more intense towards the end of his battle. The final message he left to the world was on his outgoing cell phone voicemail box where he stated that he was in the hospital suffering from the virus.
Back in the early 1990's, Holliday captured the historical footage of four policemen attacking King from his apartment balcony that set off the infamous LA riots. Last year, the late videographer put the camera up for auction for close to a quarter of a million dollars.
The footage was the catalyst for the four officers involved in the brutal beating to be charged with willfully and intentionally using unreasonable force. Shorty after, all four were acquitted in criminal court. Their lack of punishment for their crimes left the city of LA outraged and embroiled in chaos.
Fires burned and ruined businesses, neighborhoods, cars, and other properties that accumulated over a billion dollars in damages. The unrest lead to civilians fighting with LAPD authorities for nearly six weeks.
Although King did not win the case in criminal court, he landed a victory in a civil lawsuit and won over $4 million in reparations.
