Was Rodney King on PCP? Police claim resurfaces in wake of Tyre Nichols bodycam footage

After the January 10 death of Tyre Nichols, many netizens have compared the 29-year-old's encounter to the 1991 beating of Rodney King, an event that was seen as a primary catalyst of the 1992 Los Angeles riot.

On March 3, 1991, California man Rodney King was allegedly drinking and driving in the San Fernando Valley when Los Angeles police officers pulled him over. King and his friends were then reportedly kicked and punched by the authorities. King reported that he sustained a broken leg and a burn mark on his chest from a taser due to the incident.

The Washington Post reported that when the officers testified in a California court, they claimed that they believed Rodney King was under the influence of PCP. King's toxicology tests, however, revealed that he tested negative for the drug at the time of the incident.

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Rodney King's history of drug use

While some netizens claim that Rodney King was an alcoholic rather than a PCP user, the reality is more complicated. While King tested negative in 1991 and had not used PCP at the time of his assault at the hands of police officers, the 2012 autopsy released at the time of his death indicated that he had traces of the drug in his system.

The Los Angeles Times reported that on June 17, 2012, King died of accidental drowning in his swimming pool. The coroner's report indicated that, at the time, he had used alcohol, cocaine, and PCP.

The report stated:

"The effects of the drugs and alcohol, combined with the subject's heart condition, probably precipitated a cardiac arrhythmia, and the subject, incapacitated in the water, was unable to save himself."

The claim that Rodney King was on PCP proved to be crucial for the defense of the officers involved in the 1991 case. They claimed that the drug made suspects particularly dangerous, warranting greater force.

Amidst the 1992 trial of the Los Angeles officers connected to the assault on King, Los Angeles, police instructor Edgar Oglesby told Chicago Tribute reporters that the authorities were justified in their belief that the victim had been using the drug.

Oglesby said:

"Based on all of those classical symptoms, he would have to make that assumption (that King was on PCP)."

He said officers were trained not to attempt to restrain PCP users, as the drug would break down their inhibitions, making them unbelievably strong.

"It would not be advisable to (wrestle with) a PCP user, because of the danger. The officer may come out on the short end of the stick."

However, the fact that King had traces of PCP in his system upon his death remains legally irrelevant in terms of the case surrounding his 1991 assault. After three of the four officers involved in the assault were acquitted, outrage began among racial minorities in California, leading to the Los Angeles riots.