George Holliday

The plumber who videotaped the March, 1991, beating of Rodney G. King, is seeking a court order to prevent filmmaker Spike Lee from using the tape in his movie "Malcolm X," saying its inclusion in a "highly inflammatory montage sequence" could spark further rioting. In court papers filed Thursday in U.S.

It was shortly after midnight, 20 years ago Thursday, when George Holliday awoke to the sounds of police sirens outside his Lake View Terrace apartment. Grabbing his clunky Sony Handycam, he stepped out on his balcony and changed the Los Angeles Police Department forever. The nine minutes of grainy video footage he captured of Los Angeles police beating Rodney King helped to spur dramatic reforms in a department that many felt operated with impunity. The video played a central role in the criminal trial of four officers, whose not-guilty verdicts in 1992 triggered days of rioting in Los Angeles in which more than 50 people died.

George Holliday is a rooter, the guy you call when the remains of Sunday dinner have blocked the garbage disposal line or if the toilet's stopped up again. He shines his Maglite on the dirty jobs few others will take, including the ones that crop up at my house with maddening frequency because of an eccentric plumbing scheme and hardy roots from our pine tree. We got his name and number from a friend, considered ourselves lucky and thought no more about it.

Former police chief -- Sunday's West magazine article on George Holliday, the man who videotaped the Rodney King beating, incorrectly spelled Daryl Gates' first name as Darryl.

George Holliday knew he was guilty of speeding when he was pulled over by the police, but that's not what had him worried. Would they recognize him after all these years, and if so, how would he be treated? As it turned out, his fears were unfounded. Not only were the patrol officers civil, but as one handed over the ticket, he acknowledged Holliday's role in the furor over the 1991 Rodney G. King beating and even told him: "By the way, we think you did the right thing."

George Holliday probably didn't have art on his mind that fateful night two years ago when he was awakened by helicopters circling over his apartment in Lake View Terrace. He simply threw on his pants, grabbed his new camcorder, ran out to his patio and filmed Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney G. King.

When sirens and helicopters awakened him, an amateur cameraman threw on his pants, grabbed his video camera and raced to his patio, but about a minute elapsed before he began recording Rodney G. King's beating by police, the cameraman testified Monday in Los Angeles. That period before the tape begins has become central to the defense of four police officers accused of violating King's civil rights. Attorneys for the officers claim King provoked his beating during that minute.

It was shortly after midnight, 20 years ago Thursday, when George Holliday awoke to the sounds of police sirens outside his Lake View Terrace apartment. Grabbing his clunky Sony Handycam, he stepped out on his balcony and changed the Los Angeles Police Department forever. The nine minutes of grainy video footage he captured of Los Angeles police beating Rodney King helped to spur dramatic reforms in a department that many felt operated with impunity. The video played a central role in the criminal trial of four officers, whose not-guilty verdicts in 1992 triggered days of rioting in Los Angeles in which more than 50 people died.

Former police chief -- Sunday's West magazine article on George Holliday, the man who videotaped the Rodney King beating, incorrectly spelled Daryl Gates' first name as Darryl.

Once I had a job as a police reporter. This took place in Springfield, Mass., sometime around the Pleistocene. In any case, this job was all kinds of fun. My duties required me to plant myself next to a police radio in the newsroom, listening for bank robberies or shoot-outs, anything promissory of bloodshed. When this happened, a photographer and I would leap from our desks and race the squad cars to the crime scene. Speed was the important thing.

George Holliday is a rooter, the guy you call when the remains of Sunday dinner have blocked the garbage disposal line or if the toilet's stopped up again. He shines his Maglite on the dirty jobs few others will take, including the ones that crop up at my house with maddening frequency because of an eccentric plumbing scheme and hardy roots from our pine tree. We got his name and number from a friend, considered ourselves lucky and thought no more about it.

Few images in Los Angeles history have had the impact--or ignited more raw emotion--than a grainy home video capturing Los Angeles police officers mercilessly beating a black motorist named Rodney G. King on March 3, 1991.

George Holliday knew he was guilty of speeding when he was pulled over by the police, but that's not what had him worried. Would they recognize him after all these years, and if so, how would he be treated? As it turned out, his fears were unfounded. Not only were the patrol officers civil, but as one handed over the ticket, he acknowledged Holliday's role in the furor over the 1991 Rodney G. King beating and even told him: "By the way, we think you did the right thing."

George Holliday knew he was guilty of speeding when he was pulled over by the police, but that's not what had him worried. Would they recognize him after all these years, and if so, how would he be treated? As it turned out, his fears were unfounded. Not only were the patrol officers civil, but as one handed over the ticket, he acknowledged Holliday's role in the 1991 Rodney G. King beating and even told him: "By the way, we think you did the right thing."

The man who made the world's most famous home video--the 90-second film showing white police beating black motorist Rodney G. King in March, 1991--was told by a judge Friday he could not sue television stations that showed his tape over and over again. U.S. District Judge Irving Hill dismissed a suit by plumbing store manager George Holliday against four television networks and an independent Los Angeles television station that Holliday claimed used the tape without his permission.

A judge tentatively decided Thursday to dismiss a $100-million copyright infringement and fraud lawsuit filed by the man who videotaped the 1991 police beating of motorist Rodney G. King. George Holliday, a plumbing company supervisor, claimed in the suit that Cable News Network, NBC, CBS and ABC violated his copyright through alleged unauthorized telecasts of the videotape.

Thanks, Anyway: Plans to use the widely seen footage of Rodney King's beating by LAPD officers in an upcoming music video by rap group Bytches With Problems have been dropped. Amateur cameraman George Holliday had second thoughts Wednesday about the group using his famous videotape for their new music video "Wanted," which is about police brutality and racism.

The man who made the world's most famous home video--the 90-second film showing white police beating black motorist Rodney G. King in March, 1991--was told by a judge Friday he could not sue television stations that showed his tape over and over again. U.S. District Judge Irving Hill dismissed a suit by plumbing store manager George Holliday against four television networks and an independent Los Angeles television station that Holliday claimed used the tape without his permission.

George Holliday probably didn't have art on his mind that fateful night two years ago when he was awakened by helicopters circling over his apartment in Lake View Terrace. He simply threw on his pants, grabbed his new camcorder, ran out to his patio and filmed Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney G. King.