Attack On Reginald Denny - Reginald Denny

Reginald Denny

On March 3, 1991, video tape captured Rodney King, a black man, being repeatedly beaten by a group of LAPD officers. More than a year later, on April 29, 1992, all four officers were acquitted when the jury could not reach a verdict. The result sparked outrage about racism across the country, especially in South Central Los Angeles and South East Los Angeles where large groups of blacks took to the streets, many shouting "Black justice!" and "No justice, no peace!" Some of these protests and other large gatherings devolved into mob violence and destruction, in what became known as the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Reginald Oliver Denny, 33 years old at the time, was a construction truck driver. On the first day of the rioting, Denny was attacked by four men, pulled from his truck and brutally beaten, sustaining serious head injuries and other injuries. As a result of the injuries he suffered during the attacks, Denny had to undergo years of rehabilitative therapy, and his speech and ability to walk were permanently damaged.

After the 1993 trial of his assailants, he appeared on the Phil Donahue Show to shake hands with one of the assailants, Henry Keith Watson, after he apologized to Denny for the attacks. Denny largely avoids the media and rarely speaks about his ordeal. As of 2007, he works independently as a boat motor mechanic in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, where he moved after an unsuccessful lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles.