It's, to me, a matter of justice versus the right to administer it. King certainly wasn't innocent and certainly deserved punishment, but democracy breaks down

It's, to me, a matter of justice versus the right to administer it. King certainly wasn't innocent and certainly deserved punishment, but democracy breaks down if punishment is ad-hoc. The LAPD has no right to beat down anyone who is submitting to arrest, or administer any sort of punishment to anyone except incarceration pending arraignment. "Rodney King was not innocent" is very different from "A jury has found Rodney King guilty by the same laws that apply to the rest of us, and may now be legally punished by the CDCR, in a manner proscribed by a judge." That I don't sympathize is subjective on my part, in other words.