Officer Acquitted of Beating King Is Fired From L.A. Police Force

A police officer who kicked Rodney G. King has been fired, a month after a disciplinary panel ruled he used excessive force during the videotaped beating.

Police Chief Willie L. Williams signed the order firing Theodore J. Briseno on Thursday. The 12-year veteran was suspended without pay after the March 3, 1991, beating of King.

“I’m sorry for Ted; he’s been through hell,” said Harland Braun, one of Briseno’s lawyers.

Briseno and the other three officers who beat King were acquitted of nearly all state charges, a decision that sparked the riots in 1992. He was later acquitted in federal court as well.

Briseno, 41, testified during the state trial that his fellow officers were “out of control” during the beating. He has said he kicked King to keep him on the ground so he could be arrested.

His testimony was used in the federal civil rights trial that led to the convictions of former Sgt. Stacey C. Koon and former Officer Laurence M. Powell. The fourth officer, Timothy E. Wind, was fired two months after King’s beating.

Braun said he was fired in retaliation for testifying against fellow officers.