George Holliday, Man Who Filmed LAPD Beating of Rodney King, Reportedly Dies of COVID

*George Holliday, the man who recorded the LAPD beating of the late Rodney King in 1991, has reportedly died after contracting COVID-19. He was 61.

The Los Angeles Times reports that he died Sunday at a hospital in Simi Valley, California. According to TMZ,  Holliday was suffering from pneumonia, blood clots and internal bleeding and spent weeks on a ventilator before his death. Holliday’s close friend Robert Wollenweber has reportedly revealed that Holliday was unvaccinated. 

We previously reported… Holliday’s video revealed a helpless King, wrestled to the ground, raising his hands in self-defense as several patrol officers kick and flog him violently with their batons. 

READ MORE: A Look Back at the 1992 Los Angeles (Rodney King) Riots

The beating landed King in the hospital where he was treated for several broken bones and numerous lacerations to his bloodied face and body. Images of King’s injuries were publicized by the news media to boost ratings and trigger emotions. 

Several of King’s assailants — a dozen white patrol officers — were acquitted by an undoubtedly biased jury and residents of Los Angeles – where King lived – exploded with rage. Crowds of angry rioters stormed the city and laid waste to multiple storefronts and public structures. 

The LA riots, which began on April 29, 1992, lasted five days when mainly Black residents of Southern Los Angeles took to the streets not only to protest the King verdict but also years of racial and economic inequality.

King eventually won a civil lawsuit and was awarded $3.8 million. Two officers were later convicted on federal civil rights charges and sentenced to serve prison terms.

King died of accidental drowning at the age of 47 in 2012.

Per TMZ, Holliday put his infamous video camera up for auction just last year — with a starting bid of $225,000. At the time, he told the New York Times he hoped the sale would “inspire people to use their cameras for everything, the bad and the good.”

Holliday added, “People can accuse other people of doing stuff. But when it’s on camera, it’s different. You just can’t argue with it.”

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