George Holliday, Man Who Filmed Rodney King Beating, Passes Away at 61

George Holliday, a plumber and videographer who filmed the March 3, 1991, beating of Rodney King, has passed away at age 61.

On Monday, Holliday’s close friend and business partner told TMZ that George died Sunday at a hospital in Simi Valley, California, after contracting COVID-19.

Sources say Holliday had suffered from pneumonia and succumbed to the virus after a few weeks. Insiders also say he was reportedly not vaccinated.

Per reports, when Holliday was first hospitalized, he was administered an oxygen tube. Sadly, as his condition worsened, he had to be put on a ventilator.

Sources also say that Holliday was affected by blood clots and internal bleeding toward the end of his life.

On the night of March 3, 1991, Holliday woke up after hearing a traffic stop outside of his San Fernando Valley home.

After grabbing his new video camera, Holliday filmed four Los Angeles Police Department officers beating King, who was arrested for driving while intoxicated on the I-210.

During the officers’ trial for assault and excessive force, Holliday’s nine-minute footage became a key piece of evidence.

On April 29, 1992, the seventh day of jury deliberations, the jury acquitted all four officers of assault and acquitted three of the four of using excessive force. The jury could not agree on a verdict for the fourth officer charged with using excessive force.

Following this decision, the city erupted in violence in a series of events now known as the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

King later sued the city over the beating and was awarded $3.8 million in 1994. Sadly, on June 17, 2012, King drowned in his backyard swimming pool at age 47.

In 2017, Holliday said he was working on a documentary about his role in King’s case, but it is unclear where the project stands.

Last year, Holliday told the New York Times that he was still working as a plumber and never profited from the video.