LOS ANGELES — As the man who shot dead Trayvon Martin was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday, Rodney King said he was “grieving, like the rest of us, for this young man and his family.”
King, whose videotaped 1991 beating by Los Angeles police officers led to infamous riots, said in a statement that screams on a 911 call made as Martin and George Zimmerman clashed “reminded me of my horrifying scream on a videotape 20 years ago,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
The 46-year-old added, “At that time, I thought I was going to die. Very, very gratefully, I survived. Unfortunately, Trayvon Martin did not.”
This month marks 20 years since the beginning of the week-long riots in Los Angeles — sparked when the officers who beat King were acquitted — that resulted in more than 50 deaths.
Zimmerman had been in hiding for weeks following nationwide fury that he was cleared by Sanford investigators over the killing, which he said was self defense, but surrendered to Florida law enforcement Wednesday and was charged over the death.
“And now that charges have been filed against George Zimmerman, I am waiting, like the rest of us, to get to the facts and carefully, thoroughly, get to the truth,” King said.
He added, “This is about something bigger than race — this is about justice.”