The celebrity news website TMZ.com and other media outlets are reporting that Rodney King has died at the age of 47.
King is best known as the victim in a police brutality case involving the Los Angeles police department in March 1991. Police officers beat King, who is black, following a DUI traffic stop. The violent beating was filmed by a man from his home. The case came to trial in 1992, and the four white policemen involved in King's beating were acquitted. The acquittal sparked the Los Angeles riots that left 50 people dead and caused more than a billion in damage, according to reports.
Earlier this year, reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the Los Angeles riots that made him famous, King admitted to fighting substance abuse problems, according to ABC News.
"I've learned from all of my mistakes. I am a work in process. I'm constantly working on myself, knowing what my limits are and feeling comfortable with me," King said in the report.
The website is reporting that King's fiancee found him dead at the bottom of a pool.
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