After the Riots : NEWS IN BRIEF : FBI Obtains Copy of Koon’s Book About His Career
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The FBI has obtained a copy of a controversial manuscript written by Los Angeles Police Sgt. Stacey C. Koon about his years in the LAPD and his recollections of the Rodney G. King beating, federal sources said.
In the 275-page manuscript, Koon--who was acquitted in the King beating--refers to the black motorist as “Mandingo,” a reference to a Western African people used by some people to denigrate black male slaves.
In another section of the book, Koon describes an incident in which he repeatedly shot a black man and said his fellow officers joked that the man would survive because blacks “are too dumb to go into shock.” In an interview about the book, Koon denied that he is a racist.
No federal official would comment on the government’s action. However, the FBI and the Justice Department’s civil rights division are conducting an investigation into possible civil rights violations in the beating of King.
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