More on Matthew Owens beating - He did pull a knife on kids playing basketball.

[KamaAina]

104. "not prosecuting those responsible for the Reginald Denny beating"?

You must mean "not getting convictions for everyone". The LAPD moved heaven and Earth to identify the perps from grainy footage shot from a helicopter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Denny_incident#The_trials_of_the_L.A._Four

On May 12, outgoing Los Angeles police chief Daryl Gates started a search for three of Denny's attackers who were identified from the video of the beating. Gates himself arrested Damian Williams while Henry Watson and Antoine Miller were arrested by other officers. Soon afterwards Gary Williams gave himself up to the police, having stolen Denny's wallet. The arrested three were suspected to be part of the gang 8-Tray Gangster Crips.

Gary Williams pleaded guilty to charges of robbery and assault in the spring of 1993 and was sentenced to three years in jail. Judge John W. Ouderkirk granted Miller a separate trial on the grounds that the strong evidence against Watson and Damian Williams could harm his case. The two, in addition to assault charges, were charged with attempted murder. Damian Williams was also charged with aggravated mayhem....

After a few jury changes, a hung jury resulted for all charges except a felony count of mayhem for Williams, and one misdemeanor assault charge for both Williams and Watson on October 18. Watson was then given credit for time served and was released. As the families of the defendants celebrated the lesser sentences, Denny surprisingly approached Damian Williams' mother Georgina and hugged her. Other family members then exchanged warm embraces and words of reconciliation with him.