The Los Angeles plumber who filmed the grainy video of four white police officers beating black motorist Rodney King in 1991 has died of complications of Covid-19.
George Holliday, 61, died on Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital, where he had been for more than a month, according to his friend and former colleague Robert Wollenweber.
Mr Holliday was not vaccinated and was on a ventilator in recent days, his friend said.
Mr Holliday was awakened by a traffic stop outside his San Fernando Valley home on March 3, 1991.
He went outside to film it with his new video camera, catching the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers punching, kicking and using a stun gun on Mr King, even after he was on the ground.
A year later, the city erupted in widespread violence after the four officers were acquitted in the beating.
Hundreds of businesses were looted and destroyed, entire blocks of homes and shops went up in flames, and more than 60 people died by shootings or other violence.
Mr King’s daughter, Lora Dene King, expressed condolences to Mr Holliday’s family in a statement obtained by the Daily News.
“The King family will be forever grateful to George Holliday, who had the courage and conviction to hold the LAPD accountable in their brutal beating of my father Rodney,” the statement said.
Mr Holliday’s death was first reported by TMZ.com.
