AP PHOTOS: A look back at the life of Rodney King

AAA??Jun. 17, 2012?2:28 PM ET
AP PHOTOS: A look back at the life of Rodney King
By The Associated Press??By The Associated Press

FILE - This March 31, 1991 image made from video shot by George Holliday shows police officers beating a man, later identified as Rodney King. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Courtesy of KTLA Los Angeles, George Holliday)

FILE - This March 31, 1991 image made from video shot by George Holliday shows police officers beating a man, later identified as Rodney King. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Courtesy of KTLA Los Angeles, George Holliday)

FILE - This file photo of Rodney King was taken three days after his videotaped beating in Los Angeles on March 6, 1991. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Pool, File)

FILE - This July 16, 1992 file photo shows Rodney King being escorted from jail in Santa Ana, Calif. after he was arrested for investigation of drunken driving. King, whose videotaped beating by police in 1991 led to LA race riots, has died at 47. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, file)

FILE - This May 1, 1992 file photo shows Rodney King making a statement at a Los Angeles news conference. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/David Longstreath, file)

FILE - This July 20, 1993 file photo shows Rodney King speaking during an appearance on KFI-AM radio's "Bill Handel and Mark Whitlock" show in Los Angeles. King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, has died, his publicist said Sunday, June 17, 2012. He was 47. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)

Rodney King, the black motorist whose 1991 videotaped beating by Los Angeles police officers was the touchstone for one of the most destructive race riots in the nation's history, was found at the bottom of his swimming pool early Sunday and later pronounced dead. He was 47.

King's videotaped beating on the night of March 3, 1991, triggered the Los Angeles riots more than a year later, when three of the officers who beat him were acquitted of all charges. On the third day of the riots, he famously pleaded on national television, "Can we all get along?"

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Here's a gallery of images looking back at the L.A. race riots and the life of Rodney King.

Associated Press

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