Pocket worthyStories to fuel your mind

Behind the World’s First Viral Video

In 1991, George Holliday grabbed his new camcorder and filmed the police beating Rodney King in South Los Angeles. Here, Joel Anderson of Slate’s Slow Burn helps illuminate the video's origins and the firestorm it set off.

Pocket Collections

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

In partnership with
Slate

In 1991, a video of police brutality went viral. To me, then a 12-year-old Black kid living 1,500 miles away in Texas, it seemed obvious that what happened to Rodney King was wrong. I would’ve never imagined that anyone could disagree, but lots of people did. I was so naive. But I was also angry. I talked to my friends and family about the case, and they were angry, too.

Watching that tape was a formative moment in my childhood. It’s stayed with me over the past 30 years. When I’ve been pulled over while driving, the tape has played on a loop in my mind. Nowadays everyone carries a camera in their pocket. It feels like there’s a never-ending stream of videos of police abusing civilians, usually nonwhite civilians. Every time I watch one, I’m reminded of being 12 years old and watching Rodney King get beaten on the evening news.

This season on Slow Burn, we are going to explore the people and events behind the biggest civil disturbance in American history. After a jury failed to convict the four Los Angeles police officers who’d been captured on videotape beating Rodney King, the city erupted into fire and chaos—the culmination of decades of unchecked police abuse and racial injustice.

In the first episode, we start with the event as it happened and with the man who filmed it: George Holliday, who spoke to me in one of his last interviews before his death in September. Below you’ll find some of the links that helped me understand what happened to King and what has happened (and hasn’t) in the decades since. —Joel Anderson

Image by Miguel Marin / EyeEm / Getty Images

Joel Anderson

Joel Anderson is a staff writer at Slate and the host of Seasons 3 and 6 of Slow Burn. Previously, he worked as a reporter on sports, culture, and politics for ESPN and BuzzFeed News.

How was it? Save stories you love and never lose them.