“How many cops does it take to throw a black guy down the stairs?”/“None. He fell.”

A “joke” has it that law enforcement officers beat up a suspect, then lie about it:
   
Q: How many cops does it take to throw a black guy down the stairs?
A: None. He fell.
 
“Q: How many officers does it take to push a suspect down stairs? A: None. He fell” was printed in a newspaper on April 29, 1991. The “joke” became popular following the much-televised police beating of driver Rodney King (1965-2012) by officers of the Los Angeles (CA) Police Department.
   
       
Wikipedia: Rodney King   
Rodney Glen King (April 2, 1965 – June 17, 2012) was a taxi driver who became internationally known after a tape was released of him being beaten on March 3, 1991, by Los Angeles Police Department officers following a high-speed car chase. A witness, George Holliday, videotaped much of the beating from his balcony and sent the footage to local news station KTLA. The footage shows four officers surrounding King, several of them striking him repeatedly, while other officers stood by. Parts of the footage were aired around the world, and raised public concern about police treatment of minorities in the United States.
 
Four officers were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force. Three were acquitted of all charges. The jury acquitted the fourth officer of assault with a deadly weapon but failed to reach a verdict on the use of excessive force.
     
29 April 1991, Indianapolis (IN) News, “Thank heaven for FBI” by Gerry Lanosga, pg. C-1, col. 1:
(Police Department Sgt. Steven G.—ed.)Vogt, by the way, is the same officer who, with a partner, told this gem at a recent conference on child abuse.
 
Q: How many officers does it take to push a suspect down stairs?
A: None. He fell.
       
Google Groups: rec.humor
black jokes
Blade Runner
6/4/91
Well, I was told these by some black people who thought they were funny, so I don’t feel too bad repeating them:
 
Q. How many policemen does it take to push a black guy down a flight of stairs?
A. None.  He fell.
 
13 July 1991, The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec), “Ethnic Jokes: How far can you go?” by Mark Abley, pg. A1:
Even so, the Mohawk Nation Office was full of jokes last summer. They had been faxed, in English, from Indian bands across the country. And the jokes were directed against whites.
 
How many SQ policemen does it take to beat up a Mohawk?
None. He fell.
     
Google Groups: alt.tasteless.jokes
COP / Police jokes????????
Stephen Dailey
2/4/95
How many Los Angeles police officers does it take to beat up a black motorist?
None.  He fell down the stairs.
 
Google Groups: alt.tasteless.jokes
How many…
Ex Traktor
8/15/97
Q: How many Los Angeles police officers does it take to beat up a black motorist?
A: None. He fell down the stairs.
         
Google Books
Newjack:
Guarding Sing Sing
By Ted Conover
New York, NY: Vintage Books
2001
Pg. 282:
A joke I heard from a CO in a bar upstate: How many COs did it take to push the inmate down the stairs? None—he fell by himself.
 
Google Books
The Altar of the Body:
A Novel
By Duff Brenna
New York, NY: Picador USA
2001
Pg. 19:
“Hey, George, how many cops does it take to push a black man down the stairs?”
 
“How many?”
 
“None! He fell.”
     
Google Books
The Drowning Man
By Michael Robotham
London, UK: Hachette Digital
2009
Pg. ?:
‘You heard this one?’ he asks. ‘How many coppers does it take to throw a man down the stairs?’
 
‘I don’t know. How many?’
 
‘None. He fell.’
 
Google Books
Ultimate Book of Jokes:
The Essential Collection of More Than 1,500 Jokes
By Scott McNeely
San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
2011
Pg. 142:
Q: How many cops does it take to throw a man down the stairs?
A: None. He fell.
 
Reddit—Jokes
How many cops does it take to push a black guy down the stairs?
submitted September 25, 2014 by shegora
None, he ‘fell’.
 
Twitter 
Rick O’Shea‏
@Daily_Haha_
How many cops does it take to push a man down the stairs?
None… he fell.
1:12 PM - 18 Jun 2016
 
Reddit—Jokes
How many cops does it take to push a black man down the stairs?
submitted July 1, 2016 by rbk4life
None. He fell.
 
Reddit—Jokes
How many police officers does it take to push a black man down the stairs?
submitted February 2, 2017 by TheFinalPancake
None. “He fell”.
 
Twitter
dexter johnson‏
@dexinthehouse
Replying to @CharlesPPierce
this was Chicago PD. oldest joke in my neighborhood: how many cops does it take to beat a perp? a: none, he fell down the stairs.
3:24 PM - 10 Apr 2017
 
Reddit—Jokes
How many cops does it take to throw a black guy down the stairs?
submitted December 29, 2017 by i-am-a-genius
None. He fell.