CA - Two Fullerton PD officers accused of beating Kelly Thomas to death

JBean

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This is a local case for me and is causing quite an uproar. I am planning on going to the protest tomorrow. OC cops already have a reputation for going overboard on just about every level, but this is just too much. The cell phone video is not clear, but to hear him yelling for his dad just makes me cry.
There is a full video that people are demanding be released and I hope it spells the whole thing out-one way or the other. This man was beaten,tazed and knee dropped to the throat and nose.
I understand that action needs to be taken when a schizophrenic resists arrest but this is murder,imo.
if you click on the links to kelly in his hospital bed please know the pictures are stunning and graphic.
This case was not even acknowledged by our local media until a photo was released by UK Mail. It is gaining steam and resulting in major outrage.
RIP Kelly Thomas
http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/07/29/fullerton-police-brutally-beat-homeless-man-to-death/
 
Homeless man killed in Fullerton police brawl; witnesses sought
Investigators are seeking witnesses to a brawl involving Fullerton police that led to the death of a homeless man.

Kelly Thomas, 37, became involved in an altercation with officers (links to video that contains strong language) at the Fullerton bus depot July 5 that left him in critical condition on life-support.

He died five days later at the UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange.

Responding to reports of someone breaking into cars, officers had confronted Thomas, a transient well-known to merchants and officers in downtown Fullerton.

The Orange County Register reported that Thomas, who suffered from schizophrenia, began to struggle as officers tried to search him and that Thomas sustained head and neck injuries.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...on-police-altercation-that-left-man-dead.html
 
I hope that once again police officers do not get away with murder, but by now my hope is very thin in these type of cases,
 
I am speechless.

What kind of rage issues do these police officers have :eek:
 
I heard his Father on John and Ken show the other day. Not even hearing the story in advance prepared me for the picture. I cannot bring myself to listen to the video.
 
This is so horrible and also eerie for me. There was only one time in my life where I saw an officer get out of line with a citizen.

Back in the early 1980s, I was a young adult and along with some friends, we went to the Orange County Fair in California. Soon after entering the fair, a man in what seemed like his middle 20s asked a police officer for the time. The officer gave him a disgusted look and the young man said "thanks a LOT". This was because the cop wouldn't even bother to just tell him what time it was. I thought it was rude of the cop too and started to turn around as the young man also turned to leave.

Then suddenly the cop went BALLISTIC! He threw the man on the ground and started hitting him and then KICKING him! I was so upset and started screaming for him to stop! Then his partner said "that's enough" and he stopped. He put the man in his car and took him away. I gave a friend of the man my phone number and said to call me if they needed a witness. I never did receive a call. I haven't forgotten it in 30 years and to read that LE in that area has a problem with this sort of thing after all this time sends chills up my spine.

Through the years I've known quite a few cops and never heard of such a thing before or since. Wow. Just wow!
 
I am losing respect for LE. I know this is one incident but it seems there are more of these things happening in our country and I am feeling like we have given our officers to much credit that is not earned. These guys are nothing but hired killers. Even mafia killings are more humane than this.
 
I heard his Father on John and Ken show the other day. Not even hearing the story in advance prepared me for the picture. I cannot bring myself to listen to the video.

I have been following John and Ken on this too and honestly while I am really on fire about this, I am certainly not surprised.
One of my sons is epileptic and after a grand mal he is combative, rude and appears to be drunk. My biggest fear is something like this will happen to him if he seizes in public.

I understand the need to subdue someone if they are combative and even more so if they are mentally ill as this man was,but they beat him to death. Like that one bystander said, why don't they just cuff him and call it a night?
Of course he was resisting. How can you not resist when someone is beating you?


The OC is just getting worse and worse as it relates to our DA's overcharging and the blatant police brutality and harassment. I got pulled over for a ticket once and honestly you would have thought I robbed a bank the way the sheriff behaved.They are so bent on OC not becoming LA County that they have swung the pendulum the complete other way to the point of insanity in some cases.
 
This is so horrible and also eerie for me. There was only one time in my life where I saw an officer get out of line with a citizen.

Back in the early 1980s, I was a young adult and along with some friends, we went to the Orange County Fair in California. Soon after entering the fair, a man in what seemed like his middle 20s asked a police officer for the time. The officer gave him a disgusted look and the young man said "thanks a LOT". This was because the cop wouldn't even bother to just tell him what time it was. I thought it was rude of the cop too and started to turn around as the young man also turned to leave.

Then suddenly the cop went BALLISTIC! He threw the man on the ground and started hitting him and then KICKING him! I was so upset and started screaming for him to stop! Then his partner said "that's enough" and he stopped. He put the man in his car and took him away. I gave a friend of the man my phone number and said to call me if they needed a witness. I never did receive a call. I haven't forgotten it in 30 years and to read that LE in that area has a problem with this sort of thing after all this time sends chills up my spine.

Through the years I've known quite a few cops and never heard of such a thing before or since. Wow. Just wow!


shocking! NOT
 
O.M.G. This is horrific. I'm so very sorry for Kelly and his family and I do hope the officers responsible will be prosecuted.

I live in Vegas and I cannot tell you how many people have been fatally shot by our LEO's in the past year. It's chilling. They recently changed the coroner's inquest process for such cases to be more fair to all parties, but LE believes it's unfavorable to them, so they refuse to participate. I can't recall one single case in recent memory that wasn't ruled "justified" through the prior process and I fully support the changes.

To make matters worse, we've had several "police impersonators" perpetrate horrible crimes just in the past couple of months and I am seeing that in other cities now as well.

Lord only knows what the result of such cases will be. It will not be good.
 
I have been following John and Ken on this too and honestly while I am really on fire about this, I am certainly not surprised.
One of my sons is epileptic and after a grand mal he is combative, rude and appears to be drunk. My biggest fear is something like this will happen to him if he seizes in public.

I understand the need to subdue someone if they are combative and even more so if they are mentally ill as this man was,but they beat him to death. Like that one bystander said, why don't they just cuff him and call it a night?
Of course he was resisting. How can you not resist when someone is beating you?


The OC is just getting worse and worse as it relates to our DA's overcharging and the blatant police brutality and harassment. I got pulled over for a ticket once and honestly you would have thought I robbed a bank the way the sheriff behaved.They are so bent on OC not becoming LA County that they have swung the pendulum the complete other way to the point of insanity in some cases.

I have heard lots of complaints about the sheriff but I've never heard anything bad about the fullerton police. I can't see how they can justify this beating on any level. Even if he was fighting back, when I first saw it, I was wondering if the dad was in Carona's circle and this was some kind of payback if everyone knew who the son was?

We called the police in Laguna Beach today - I felt so bad for the guy, he was probably not dangerous, but he was older (45+), and agitated, and struck out at a man who asked him if maybe he'd like go down to the beach, so the kids could play on the equipment. A group of friends and I had 6 girls aged 7 and under at the park, and he kept following them, and then whatever they were on and leave he'd play on. I wouldn't let the girls go anywhere that had an enclosed area. With all that has happened in the last couple of weeks I'd rather err than have something tragic happen.

I do have to say, the LB police were so kind to him, and eventually his caretaker came over and hadn't noticed he had wondered away from the group. I was so angry that he had wondered away and no one had noticed he was gone. It was at least 30 minutes that they didn't notice.

I think there's a weird tension with police and the rest of us these days. They forget they are there to protect and serve!
 
good to see that the case is being fully investigated, I have little faith though that anybody will be prosecuted,
 
I listened to John and Ken yesterday, and they mentioned that the Fullerton police chief and his wife are long-time, close personal friends with the D.A.'s investigator. Massive conflict of interest there.

There is also talk of alleged threats against witnesses coming from the police union.

The incredible thing is that five of the six cops involved are still on active duty. No administrative leave, which is routine in these cases.

The poor man weighed only 135 lbs and was unarmed!
 
Local new reported last night that the police chief has finally removed the five cops from active duty. The sixth officer was place on administrative leave early on.
 
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8280702

The city of Fullerton has offered a $900,000 settlement to the family of a man who died after a struggle with police, according to the man's father Ron Thomas.

Angry protesters demonstrated outside the police station Saturday.

Related Content

Story: FBI investigating Fullerton police beating

Story: Witnesses sought in Fullerton arrest death

Story: Family, friends protest OC police beating

Story: Witnesses sought in Fullerton police beating

Officers confronted 37-year-old Kelly Thomas July 5 after getting reports of a man burglarizing cars. They said Thomas became combative.

Witnesses said Thomas was struck with a flashlight and shot with a Taser.

Thomas, who was schizophrenic, was hospitalized with severe head and neck injuries and died several days later.

Thomas' father calls the offer of money unacceptable. He's demanding justice.

If you have any information regarding this case, you're urged to call the Orange County district attorney's office at (714) 347-8813.
 
Local new reported last night that the police chief has finally removed the five cops from active duty. The sixth officer was place on administrative leave early on.

Thank God! I am sick to my stomach over this case.
 

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