---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one knew what Rodney King had done…"
description: "\"No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be stopped. No one realized that he was a parolee and that he was violating his parole. No one knew..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png"
---

#  No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be…

![“No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be stopped. No one realized that he was a parolee and that he was violating his parole. No one knew any of those things. All they saw was this grainy film and police officers hitting him over the head.” quote by Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png)

> “No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be stopped. No one realized that he was a parolee and that he was violating his parole. No one knew any of those things. All they saw was this grainy film and police officers hitting him over the head.”

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Public perception often ignores context, focusing only on visible actions and missing underlying facts.

**In simple terms:** People judge based on what they see, not hidden details.

Key Takeaway

Seek full context before forming opinions.

Themes

perception justice media

Mood

critical inquisitive

Type

analytical cautionary

When to use this quote

- court cases
- media coverage
- personal judgments

Key Concepts

law social bias information gaps

Questions to Reflect On

- What facts are missing in this story?
- How does context change your view?

A Different Perspective

Limited information can lead to misinterpretation.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Film](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/film/) [Officers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/officers/) [Parole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parole/) [Police](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police/) [Police officers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/police-officers/)

## Related quotes

> [In France they spend six months training policemen, then they give them a gun and put them on the streets, and I don't know…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mathieu-kassovitz/in-france-they-spend-six-months-training-policemen-then-they-give/)

[Mathieu Kassovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mathieu-kassovitz/)

> [HATE, even if it's making money. is an underground movie, that's how it was made. It's a film about police brutality in the largest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mathieu-kassovitz/hate-even-if-it-s-making-money-is-an-underground-movie-that-s-how-it/)

[Mathieu Kassovitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mathieu-kassovitz/)

> [Remarkable. . . . Moskos manages to capture a world that most people know only through the distorting prism of television and film, where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-horan/remarkable-moskos-manages-to-capture-a-world-that-most-people-know/)

Daniel Horan

> [Rodney King that ting girl, can't we all just get along?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fabolous/rodney-king-that-ting-girl-can-t-we-all-just-get-along/)

Fabolous

> [What the cops did to Rodney King was wrong, and the officers who beat him should be sent straight to prison.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eazy-e/what-the-cops-did-to-rodney-king-was-wrong-and-the-officers-who-beat/)

[Eazy-E](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eazy-e/)

> [For a long time, sure, I was letting the pressure of being Rodney King get to me. It ain't easy. Even now, I walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-king/for-a-long-time-sure-i-was-letting-the-pressure-of-being-rodney-king/)

[Rodney King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-king/)

> [I'm living three dreams: Biggie Smalls', Dr. King, Rodney King's. Cause we can't get along, no resolution? 'Til we drown all these haters... Rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-m-living-three-dreams-biggie-smalls-dr-king-rodney-king-s-cause-we/)

[Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/)

> [There are three things that Black people need to tell the truth about. Number one: Rodney King should've gotten his ass beat for being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-the-entertainer/there-are-three-things-that-black-people-need-to-tell-the-truth-about/)

[Cedric The Entertainer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-the-entertainer/)

> [Fuck around and Rodney King the beat bout that war like Vietnamese. Feeling froggy nigga leap, Im that nigga, you obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyga/fuck-around-and-rodney-king-the-beat-bout-that-war-like-vietnamese/)

[Tyga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyga/)

> [For many years, I believed racism in America was dead and that opportunity existed for all. My beliefs were shaken when the Rodney King…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hope-bryant/for-many-years-i-believed-racism-in-america-was-dead-and-that/)

[John Hope Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hope-bryant/)

> [If you are a black man in America and get stopped by the police, make sure you have a video camera. Don't rely on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vince-megna/if-you-are-a-black-man-in-america-and-get-stopped-by-the-police-make/)

Vince Megna

> [For example, it was this pack of wolves that sparked off the Rodney King affair a few years ago in Los Angeles. Let us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-virilio/for-example-it-was-this-pack-of-wolves-that-sparked-off-the-rodney/)

[Paul Virilio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-virilio/)

> [If you are a blackman in America and get stopped by the police, make sure you have a vidio camera. Don't rely on some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-king/if-you-are-a-blackman-in-america-and-get-stopped-by-the-police-make/)

[Don King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-king/)

> [I was doing stand up comedy when I was 11, that's how I got started; not because I wanted to do comedy, but because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shia-labeouf/i-was-doing-stand-up-comedy-when-i-was-11-that-s-how-i-got-started/)

[Shia LaBeouf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shia-labeouf/)

> [When he brought it to me four years ago, Rodney King had just arrived, I was involved in the clean-up of L.A. and I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-bigelow/when-he-brought-it-to-me-four-years-ago-rodney-king-had-just-arrived/)

[Kathryn Bigelow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-bigelow/)

## More by Daryl Gates

> [We're in a war. People who blast some pot on a casual basis are guilty of treason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/we-re-in-a-war-people-who-blast-some-pot-on-a-casual-basis-are-guilty/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [They have, and bring with them, that upper-body strength. They have apparently developed that in their childhood and growing up, and they've further advanced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/they-have-and-bring-with-them-that-upper-body-strength-they-have/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [It was a department where you had honesty and integrity stamped right on you when you came into the Los Angeles Police Department. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/it-was-a-department-where-you-had-honesty-and-integrity-stamped-right/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [We were the finest. We were the best in the world. We were a department that people came from all over the world to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/we-were-the-finest-we-were-the-best-in-the-world-we-were-a-department/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [No police department should hire more quickly than they can assimilate the people that they bring in, and we did. I take responsibility for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/no-police-department-should-hire-more-quickly-than-they-can/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [They have the ability to take a person's freedom from them. On certain situations, they have the ability to take a person's reputation. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/they-have-the-ability-to-take-a-person-s-freedom-from-them-on-certain/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [We may be finding that in some blacks, when the choke hold is applied, the veins or arteries do not open up like in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/we-may-be-finding-that-in-some-blacks-when-the-choke-hold-is-applied/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [There are going to be situations where people are going to go without assistance. That's just the facts of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/there-are-going-to-be-situations-where-people-are-going-to-go-without/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [Our people went out every single night trying to stop crime before it happened, trying to take people off the street that they believed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/our-people-went-out-every-single-night-trying-to-stop-crime-before-it/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

> [Casual drug users should be taken out and shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/casual-drug-users-should-be-taken-out-and-shot/)

[Daryl Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

[Explore all 11 Daryl Gates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/)

## More Done quotes

> [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [Usually male directors have to use foul language to get the job done. But I never came down to that level as being a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-khosla-kumar/usually-male-directors-have-to-use-foul-language-to-get-the-job-done/)

[Divya Khosla Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-khosla-kumar/)

> [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Forcing modern speakers of English to not - whoops, not to split an infinitive because it isn't done in Latin makes about as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pinker/forcing-modern-speakers-of-english-to-not-whoops-not-to-split-an/)

[Steven Pinker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pinker/)

> [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/)

[Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/)

> [Against his own will, almost, Will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/against-his-own-will-almost-will-felt-himself-understanding-he-would/)

[Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/)

> [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/)

[Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/)

> [If the members of parliament no longer consider themselves mandatories of the taxpayers but deputies of those receiving salaries, wages, subsidies, doles, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/if-the-members-of-parliament-no-longer-consider-themselves/)

[Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/)

> [I'm a business first and foremost so whatever my business is, it's separate from my personal. It's like whatever I do business wise, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/snoop-dogg/i-m-a-business-first-and-foremost-so-whatever-my-business-is-it-s/)

[Snoop Dogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/snoop-dogg/)

> [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/)

[Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/)

> [I've used the Phoenix Centrifuge to replicate what the body's going to go through on the flight up. I've also done some gravity tests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-branson/i-ve-used-the-phoenix-centrifuge-to-replicate-what-the-body-s-going/)

[Richard Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-branson/)

> [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/)

[Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/)

> [In the future, I would like to do more films with contemporary themes. Perhaps comedy, which is something I have done in theater but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-evans/in-the-future-i-would-like-to-do-more-films-with-contemporary-themes/)

[Luke Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-evans/)

> [I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua/i-don-t-enjoy-killing-but-when-done-righteously-it-s-just-a-chore/)

[Joshua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua/)

> [Of everything I have done, 'The Archers' always gets the most excitement; there's a sort of uncontrollable joy from fans of the program.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/of-everything-i-have-done-the-archers-always-gets-the-most-excitement/)

[Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/)

Browse all 25,653 Done quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be stopped. No one realized that he was a parolee and that he was violating his parole. No one knew any of those things. All they saw was this grainy film and police officers hitting him over the head.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Daryl Gates"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-beforehand-to-be-stopped-no-one/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Done"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-beforehand-to-be-stopped-no-one/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7d/daryl-gates-38535_done_no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-be_171187.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“No one knew what Rodney King had done beforehand to be stopped. No one realized that he was a parolee and…” — Daryl Gates",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Daryl Gates",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daryl-gates/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "No one knew what Rodney King...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-beforehand-to-be-stopped-no-one/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daryl-gates/no-one-knew-what-rodney-king-had-done-beforehand-to-be-stopped-no-one/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
