Rodney King was remembered during a Saturday service at Forest Lawn in the Hollywood Hills as a "symbol of forgiveness" who bore the scars of his infamous beating with dignity.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, said at a news conference before the funeral that King never showed bitterness to the officers who beat him.
King was found in the bottom of his swimming pool in the backyard of his Rialto home on June 17. His death at age 47 is being treated as an accidental drowning, though autopsy results have still not been released.
Family members held a private service early Saturday, followed by a public memorial and burial.
Donors large and small had chipped in for the funeral and other arrangements, and filed into the faux-colonial structure at the cemetery.
King's longtime attorney, Steven Lerman, said most people made incorrect assumptions about King, not knowing his real background. King had grown up in a mixed-race environment in middle-class Altadena, Lerman said today.
King's plaintive "can we all just get along" lament, at the height of the vicious L.A. Riots, was a direct reflection of that background, and of the tolerance taught to King by his mother, Odessa King, Lerman said.
Today's services were held nearly two weeks after King's death, a delay that family members said was attributable to financial woes and disagreement about how it was to be handled. In the end, the family decided for a public ceremony, and allowed a pool TV camera inside.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20979451/rodney-kings-funeral-set-today-at-forest-lawn?source=rss
2 weeks after his death, I bet they were trying to see how they could make money off of it, probably the only reason Sharpton showed up. I like the fact they get a quote from King's attorney, this is the same guy that King took to court twice because he felt he was cheated out of money. (King’s lawyers received approximately $2.3 million in total while King received only $1.9 million.)
The Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, said at a news conference before the funeral that King never showed bitterness to the officers who beat him.
King was found in the bottom of his swimming pool in the backyard of his Rialto home on June 17. His death at age 47 is being treated as an accidental drowning, though autopsy results have still not been released.
Family members held a private service early Saturday, followed by a public memorial and burial.
Donors large and small had chipped in for the funeral and other arrangements, and filed into the faux-colonial structure at the cemetery.
King's longtime attorney, Steven Lerman, said most people made incorrect assumptions about King, not knowing his real background. King had grown up in a mixed-race environment in middle-class Altadena, Lerman said today.
King's plaintive "can we all just get along" lament, at the height of the vicious L.A. Riots, was a direct reflection of that background, and of the tolerance taught to King by his mother, Odessa King, Lerman said.
Today's services were held nearly two weeks after King's death, a delay that family members said was attributable to financial woes and disagreement about how it was to be handled. In the end, the family decided for a public ceremony, and allowed a pool TV camera inside.
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_20979451/rodney-kings-funeral-set-today-at-forest-lawn?source=rss
2 weeks after his death, I bet they were trying to see how they could make money off of it, probably the only reason Sharpton showed up. I like the fact they get a quote from King's attorney, this is the same guy that King took to court twice because he felt he was cheated out of money. (King’s lawyers received approximately $2.3 million in total while King received only $1.9 million.)
