-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless schizophrenic, is shown on the left, after his confrontation with Fullerton California police officers, and on the right before his brutalization. He was taken to UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange County in critical condition on life-support and died five days later. Kelly was unarmed, had a slight build, and of medium height.
Witnesses claim that officers continued hitting Kelly with the butts of their flashlights even after he had stopped moving.
Kelly’s father, a retired Orange County sheriff’s deputy, didn’t recognize his son when he visited him at the hospital, and said “This is cold-blooded, aggravated murder.” Kelly’s father said his son was probably off his medication and couldn’t understand the officers’ commands.
An investigation is underway by the Orange County district attorney’s office and witnesses are sought.
In Olmstead v. L.C., the Supreme Court held that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, individuals with mental disabilities have the right to live in the community rather than in institutions. One consequence is that even people with serious mental disorders, that are controlled by medication, are members of society. The side effects of the medication are claimed to be worse than the illness they’re supposed to treat and individuals are reluctant to continue the treatment.
This incident demonstrates a lack of self-control by the officers who have manifested sociopathic tendencies.
The video below doesn’t show much of what took place but other videos may surface.
I feel like I just watched what amounts to a snuff film. And now I feel sick. Literally. This was murder. If a civilian (non-LEO) citizen or group of citizens did this to someone, they’d be charged with murder. These officers should be charged with murder. There is simply no justification for this.
pete – I found that part to be especially disturbing.
what does it say about us when the people witnessing this simply walk off saying “i can’t watch this anymore”? and “this is going on youtube”
can we afford to wait until it’s our friends or relatives getting beaten to death
Disturbing on so many levels. And it happened out on the street, in full view of multiple witnesses and other cops. I’m going to set up a google alert for this one – I want to see what happens to those murderers.
“This is cold-blooded, aggravated murder.”
yup
I’d say they were pigs but that does such a diservice to those intelligent 4-legged creatures…
Crazy story Lotta! I hope they have a civil remedy to make Wal-Mart learn their lesson……again!
Every offense imaginable is being carried out under color of law. One hopes the five murderers above spend the rest of their lives in jail but what distinguishes a knowingly false accusation like the one below from common criminal behavior. Why is the possibility of remedy civil instead of criminal? The law itself seems to have become the enemy of the people.
“Wal-Mart Goes Nuclear Over Chicken Necks; Newlyweds Lose House; Husband Deported”
“BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (CN) – Newlywed shoppers claim Wal-Mart’s false accusation that they tried to steal $2.90 worth of chicken neck bones caused the wife to be falsely arrested and lose her job, her husband to be deported, and both to lose their car, all their possessions and their house – though Wal-Mart’s security video showed they had paid for the damn chicken bones.
…. The guard refused to look at the video, but an assistant manager did.
The complaint continues: “The assistant manager said in presence of plaintiff and her husband: ‘I see where she scanned it, I see where it’s been rung up.’ Plaintiff responded: ‘I did scan it, I told you.’ Ricky, plaintiff’s husband said I’ll pay for it again if you want me to. The assistant manager then said to the security guard: ‘Well what do you want to do?’ The security guard said he wanted to put plaintiff and her husband in jail.”
When the security guard found that Mary Hill Bonin had worked at another Wal-Mart, he called that store and informed it “that she was being charged with a Theft of Property in the Third Degree,” even though the assistant manager already had told him that the chicken bones had been bought and paid for, the Bonins say.”
http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/07/26/38455.htm
timwayne, if it’s racist, meaning I presume favoring whites, then how come they beat this white guy to death. I don’t buy the racism crap. It’s plain cops out-of-control that need to be fired and the chief investigated for not giving a damn for a month–so far. If I was his father I’d go for bankrupting Fullerton.
All we ever hear of on the news, in every form of media, etc. is about the Nazi’s, the terrorists, the radicals that threaten us from behind every bush. These swine, excuse me police, are nazi’s, if not worse. The police chief and everyone involved needs to answer some serious questions, NOW!! These cops are out of control. As one caller said to the John and Ken Show, if this happened to a “minority” with the Los Angeles Police Department there would already have been riots. You stupid people better wake up.
Roco, I understood. I did not take it as a negative comment. I am a pro at this and take those kinds of contingencies into consideration. As a colleague once commented to me, only partly in jest, I do not present a stationary target.
Otteray Scribe:
I did not mean anything by that other than to comment that some crazies would come looking for you instead of doing it to themselves.
Like when an unstable person gets fired and kills the boss and any coworkers he thinks were against him.
My apologies if you took it the wrong way.
Mike, there are departments and there are departments. I blame a combination of poor pre-employment screening and poor supervision. Some department seem to have a culture of violence against citizens. Other department heads would have 1) never hired these guys, and 2) canned them a long time ago if they had been hired.
I have been fortunate to avoid the bad departments in my consultations. If an agency like this one ever tried to retain me, they would let me play by my rules or I would not work with them. About thirty years ago, I failed a guy on his pre-employment screening, but the department head told me I was wrong and hired him anyway. It was the last work I did for that department, and I told the agency head why.
This was simply unprovoked murder and the perpetrators psychopathic. No
other reasonable explanation is possible. I’ve no doubt Fullerton is bad, but so are many other locales. I would guess most people are attracted to policing for the right reasons, however, their acculturation to their jobs is badly done and too many of the “bad” apples are held up as good examples.
Roco, you underestimate me. You are not the first and won’t be the last. A common mistake.
Rafflaw: “This is one of the sickest episodes I have ever seen. …”
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What Raf said, this is grotesque.
This stuff isn’t going to stop until the so-called good cops quit circling the wagons around the “bad apples.”
Otteray Scribe:
you are lucky he didnt put it through your head.
Raff, sometimes I hate it when I am right.
I failed an officer on his new hire exam a while back. I thought he was too unstable. He went home and put a 9mm round through his head. As I told the Chief: “Damn, I hate it when I am right.”
OS,
I hope you are wrong, but you are probably correct!
The criminals have the weapons. We’re screwed.