Homeless mentally ill man beaten to death by cops

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Another homeless man beaten and killed by police. If you see the picture of what they did to this guy it's disgusting and horrible.


Police Beat Homeless Fullerton Man Kelly Thomas To Death


Posted: 7/27/11 07:00 PM ET


A video has surfaced that documents Fullerton police beating a homeless man near the Fullerton Bus Depot in early July, reports Gawker (http://gawker.com/5825010/police-beat-gentle-homeless-mentally-ill-man-to-death). The video above does not show much of the fight, but you can hear a man's screams and people talking about a Taser. The man being beaten also cries out for his father.
On July 5, Fullerton police received reports of someone breaking into cars in the area around the bus depot, according to the LA Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/man-critical-condition-fullerton-police-.html). Police subsequently tried to arrest 37-year-old transient Kelly Thomas on suspicion of possessing the stolen items.
When Thomas resisted, it took several minutes for him to be subdued. Sgt. Andrew Goodrich told the OC Register (http://www.ocregister.com/news/officers-307227-goodrich-injuries.html) that it took "an upwards of five, maybe six officers to subdue him."
ABC (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8235871) says that Thomas was unarmed during the incident. Thomas sustained severe injuries to the head and neck, as evidenced in the photo here (WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC) (http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2011/warning-graphic-photo-of-fpd-beating-victim). He was hospitalized at UCI Medical Center, when he fell into a coma and died less than a week later.
Thomas' father Ron Thomas told the OC Register (http://www.ocregister.com/news/officers-307227-goodrich-injuries.html) that his son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early twenties and was homeless by choice. His sister, Christina Kinser, described him as a "quiet, gentle soul" to Fullerton Stories (http://fullertonstories.com/kelly-thomas-a-quiet-gentle-soul/).
Currently, the Fullerton Police Department is performing an inquiry into the incident, and the case is being examined by the Orange County District Attorney's office, reports the LA Times (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/homeless-man-dies-5-days-after-fight-with-fullerton-police-.html). There have been several protests (http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8267687), and a vigil for Kelly was held in downtown Fullerton, the OC Register (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/thomas-308070-family-police.html?cb=1310588990) tells us.
In an open letter (http://fullertonstories.com/councilman-whitaker-releases-open-letter-to-fullerton-residents/), City Council Member Bruce Whitaker has called for the police to offer a clear explanation and to release a video that apparently shows the actual beating.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/27/police-beat-homeless-full_n_911419.html
The video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ljYNgLnpxM&feature=player_embedded

[OhYesIdid]

Goddamn fucking pigs. You policemen can't protect you, but they can get you killed.

[Reznov]

Shame. I wonder what the court will say.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I have a feeling the cops... I mean courts, will side with the cops like they do most of the time.

[Reznov]

I have a feeling the cops... I mean courts, will side with the cops like they do most of the time.

Most of the time they have very good reasoning for it, but some people are just to ignorant and only view it from one angle of the story and therefore make brash, emotional responses.

We'll see.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Most of the time they have very good reasoning for it, but some people are just to ignorant and only view it from one angle of the story and therefore make brash, emotional responses.

We'll see.
Are you seriously suggesting he deserved what he got, that there was good reason to beat a man to death while he was already subdued on the ground? They couldn't get his arms behind his backs, fuck it he's a poor homeless man, they can just beat him to the point that he's unrecognizable and dead. It's justification, I mean he was resisting arrest!

[RadioRaheem84]

Most of the time they have very good reasoning for it, but some people are just to ignorant and only view it from one angle of the story and therefore make brash, emotional responses.

We'll see.

You're dad's a cop, right? :rolleyes:

[pax et aequalitas]

This is just sad. What they did to that man is horrible and unforgivable. Not only did they kill him, but they also did it in a horribly painful and disgusting way. When in the video he screams for his dad I can feel the terror in his voice. Just.. disgusting.

[Ingraham Effingham]

too many stories like this lately...

[Miri]

Most of the time they have very good reasoning for it, but some people are just to ignorant and only view it from one angle of the story and therefore make brash, emotional responses.

We'll see.

He was mentally ill, though, and he was yelling out for his dad. He was vunerable, therefore someone the cops should try extra hard to protect, rather than kill. I mean seriously, even if he was a criminal, they can't just kill people on the street like that.

[a rebel]

well that was terrible to watch, the police protected and served him to death....fucking pigs

[Metacomet]

Yea lets give the jerk in high school who beat up the nerd and stole someone else's lunch money, then went to college and drank away his parent's money, a gun and give him full authorization and protection to kill as he pleases. Nothing bad could ever happen.

[Miri]

This is just another story in a long, long line. That as well as that phone hacking and police treatment of prisoners just makes me more convinced that we'd be much better off without them. Even if that guy had broken into the cars (which he didn't), killing him wouldn't've magically mended those cars. I think that cops are in the revenge buisness, not the crime prevention buisness, or whatever bullshit they like to produce.

[heyjoe]

the damage done to his head is worse than anything ive seen in a horror movie.

[Jose Gracchus]

I've said it before, I'll say it again, there will be need for revolutionary tribunals and revolutionary justice. Some piggies will need to hang from street lamps.

[Aspiring Humanist]

So uh the revolution starts when exactly

[Commissar Rykov]

What the fuck is wrong with these pigs? Seriously the photo shows how fucking excessive this was. This is a reason we need to Smash the Bourgeoisie and take back control before we are all beaten for being too poor or not working hard enough for the system.

[Comrade Trotsky]

What is even more fucked up, perhaps, is the fact that these bourgeoisie praetorian guard will never be brought to justice.

[RedSonRising]

We need this again. Badly.

http://web.mac.com/christiandavenport/iWeb/Site%205/The%20Black%20Panther%20Party%20vs.%20the%20US%20G overnment_files/pigs%20and%20panthers_2.jpg

[pax et aequalitas]

Now what is even sadder is the people here who think "Oh they used excessive violence and killed someone. What do? Ah! Of course lets also use excessive violence and kill them!"

Which in turn will of course lead to the response:

"They use excessive violence and kill us, lets use excessive violence and kill them."

And well... you get the idea.

[Commissar Rykov]

Now what is even sadder is the people here who think "Oh they used excessive violence and killed someone. What do? Ah! Of course lets also use excessive violence and kill them!"

Which in turn will of course lead to the response:

"They use excessive violence and kill us, lets use excessive violence and kill them."

And well... you get the idea.

Ah Defeatism so early in the morning. Thank you lets make Revolution with silk gloves and hug the bourgeoisie out of class warfare.:rolleyes:

[pax et aequalitas]

Ah Defeatism so early in the morning. Thank you lets make Revolution with silk gloves and hug the bourgeoisie out of class warfare.:rolleyes:

No, lets just have some people alive at the end of the revolution. The idea of people slaughtering each other has never really appealed to me, but I see some think otherwise about it.

[Commissar Rykov]

No, lets just have some people alive at the end of the revolution. The idea of people slaughtering each other has never really appealed to me, but I see some think otherwise about it.

Smashing Bourgeoisie State Apparatuses are part of the revolution. Killing the men who purposefully commit acts against their Class in order to get a paycheck deserve no mercy especially those who kill in order to maintain the Class Hierarchy. At least you are an apologist though for the bourgeoisie. They can kill us in the streets just fine and dandy but don't hurt the hair on the head of the enemy with the jackboot on your neck that would be uncivilized. I believe this is Revleft if you don't like discussions of revolution and violence I am sure you could find another forum for Social Democrats and their ilk.

[Patchd]

Now what is even sadder is the people here who think "Oh they used excessive violence and killed someone. What do? Ah! Of course lets also use excessive violence and kill them!"

Which in turn will of course lead to the response:

"They use excessive violence and kill us, lets use excessive violence and kill them."

And well... you get the idea.
And that's how we'll get to the revolutionary situation :D

No mercy for all cops is an understatement

[pax et aequalitas]

Smashing Bourgeoisie State Apparatuses are part of the revolution. Killing the men who purposefully commit acts against their Class in order to get a paycheck deserve no mercy especially those who kill in order to maintain the Class Hierarchy. At least you are an apologist though for the bourgeoisie. They can kill us in the streets just fine and dandy but don't hurt the hair on the head of the enemy with the jackboot on your neck that would be uncivilized. I believe this is Revleft if you don't like discussions of revolution and violence I am sure you could find another forum for Social Democrats and their ilk.

There are more ways than simply killing. Saying that I am more of a social democrat offends me and is also a rather stupid comment in fact. The fact that I oppose violence doesn't mean my other political views must be less radical. I believe in a revolution, but one with a minimal use of violence. You may disagree with that, but that does not mean I am a social democrat, because frankly that has absolutely nothing to do with this at all.

And if you're gonna say revolutions are impossible without violence: Take a look at what Gandhi accomplished with his non-violence resistance.

edit: Also we're kinda drifting off-topic

[Patchd]

There are more ways than simply killing. Saying that I am more of a social democrat offends me and is also a rather stupid comment in fact. The fact that I oppose violence doesn't mean my other political views must be less radical. I believe in a revolution, but one with a minimal use of violence. You may disagree with that, but that does not mean I am a social democrat, because frankly that has absolutely nothing to do with this at all.

And if you're gonna say revolutions are impossible without violence: Take a look at what Gandhi accomplished with his non-violence resistance.

edit: Also we're kinda drifting off-topic
Yes, let's look at Gandhi (http://www.zimbio.com/Ghandi+quotes/articles/163/Gandhi+racism+truth+behind+mask+Behold+Sergeant).

[pax et aequalitas]

Yes, let's look at Gandhi.

Irrelevant. What he might or might not have done before the non-violent resistance of India. Fact is that non-violent resistance was successful.

(btw the links on that page are broken, so perhaps there is more to it than that bit of sensational headlines)

[Commissar Rykov]

Irrelevant. What he might or might not have done before the non-violent resistance of India. Fact is that non-violent resistance was successful.

(btw the links on that page are broken, so perhaps there is more to it than that bit of sensational headlines)
Ghandi's love affair with Hitler (http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/articles/fascism/gandhihitler.html)

[Lord Testicles]

ACAB. I hope something fucking horrifying happens to those filthy pricks.

[pax et aequalitas]

(Your link which I can't quote, because I have less than 25 posts)

I think you are a bit mistaken there. First of all even if Gandhi liked Hitler, that is not an argument against the success of non-violent resistance. I didn't say Gandhi was some idol to worship. I used the non-violent resistance in India against the British Empire of which Gandhi was the face as example of non-violent resistance which proved to be successful to a certain degree.

And second of all, while skipping through that text I didn't really get much of a love feeling.

"Unlike many of his countrymen, Gandhi rejected the idea of achieving freedom from British rule with German help: "We know what the British heel means for us and the non-European races of the world. But we would never wish to end the British rule with German aid.""

[Patchd]

Irrelevant. What he might or might not have done before the non-violent resistance of India. Fact is that non-violent resistance was successful.

(btw the links on that page are broken, so perhaps there is more to it than that bit of sensational headlines)
No it wasn't, it was the bombing campaigns conducted by Bhagat Singh and his band of merry men on British economic and military targets which made it unprofitable to continue running India as a colony, Gandhi was a convenient excuse.

Seriously, tell me how it was successful.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Tell us how non-violent redistance will help us in our struggle for socialism. Because my understanding of the events is the Brits negotiated with pacifists because they did not want to fight a costly war and of course did not want violent socialists to successfully carry out the social revolution. Because as we've figured out imperial powers like having nations to exploit and they don't need to occupy countries to do that. Yay look at what Ghandhi did! Now the murderous Indian state kills poor people and kicks them off their land so the multinationals can plunder their land! That's better than those other violent people, many of whom were socialist.

[Reznov]

Are you seriously suggesting he deserved what he got, that there was good reason to beat a man to death while he was already subdued on the ground? They couldn't get his arms behind his backs, fuck it he's a poor homeless man, they can just beat him to the point that he's unrecognizable and dead. It's justification, I mean he was resisting arrest!

Calm down V for Vendetta. And please don't try to create straw mans.

This kind of thought gives justice to the Neo-Nazis who try to use this same kind of propaganda when "blacks attack whites".

Try to become more mature, and try to understand the entire story before jumping to conclusions.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Calm down V for Vendetta. And please don't try to create straw mans.

This kind of thought gives justice to the Neo-Nazis who try to use this same kind of propaganda when "blacks attack whites".

Try to become more mature, and try to understand the entire story before jumping to conclusions.
It's not a straw man when that's what you said. You said who knows, maybe there's a good reason why they did this. What possible justification was there for what they did to him? And your solution is to let the courts figure that one out, because we can trust the courts where truth and justice live! I'm not being immature, you're just being delusional.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Calm down V for Vendetta. And please don't try to create straw mans.

This kind of thought gives justice to the Neo-Nazis who try to use this same kind of propaganda when "blacks attack whites".

Bullshit, this has nothing to do with race. This is about a vulnerable person being mauled to death by the trained attack dogs of the ruling classes.

[#FF0000]

words

"MLK AND GANDHI DID EVERYTHING"

*ignores people burning down detroit and bombing shit*

And even if we take your bullshit as correct (though it is not), it still doesn't mesh with the bullshit "violent revolution leads to violent dictatorship" spiel you folks like to push, seeing as it lead to the disastrous Partition and the iron-fist rule of Indira Gandhi.

Honestly you so-called "pacifists" piss me off as much as the blood-and-guts-kill-em-all types.

[#FF0000]

Calm down V for Vendetta. And please don't try to create straw mans.

This kind of thought gives justice to the Neo-Nazis who try to use this same kind of propaganda when "blacks attack whites".

Try to become more mature, and try to understand the entire story before jumping to conclusions.

Please craft for us a situation in which it is necessary to beat a restrained, mentally ill man to death in the streets.

[Reznov]

Now what is even sadder is the people here who think "Oh they used excessive violence and killed someone. What do? Ah! Of course lets also use excessive violence and kill them!"

Which in turn will of course lead to the response:

"They use excessive violence and kill us, lets use excessive violence and kill them."

And well... you get the idea.

This kind of thought is far beyond some of the posters in this thread, I'm afraid.

[A Revolutionary Tool]

This kind of thought is far beyond some of the posters in this thread, I'm afraid.
Yet you still can't craft a example of how it could be acceptable the police did this to this man. Can't you, because you're so much smarter than the rest of us, craft this example for us please. Why don't you help the police out and give them your thoughts on how this could possibly be justifiable, help build their case. Because our simple minds can't even figure out the simplest of things because we're just simpletons.

[BE_]

I can't believe the police did that to the poor man.

[Princess Luna]

Calm down V for Vendetta. And please don't try to create straw mans.

This kind of thought gives justice to the Neo-Nazis who try to use this same kind of propaganda when "blacks attack whites".

Try to become more mature, and try to understand the entire story before jumping to conclusions.
A unarmed man is beaten to the point were he ends up in a coma and dies, by 6 people who are larger than he is and video exists that shows for several minutes he was on the ground begging for them to stop and yet the men continued to beat him mercylessley despite the fact he posed no threat. Saying that is cold blooded murder is not jumping to conclusions, it's pretty damn clear cut.

[Cynic]

Police brutality really pisses me off :cursing:

[Zantar]

I can not help but become more and more cynical towards the government when I see stuff like this happening day after day. It is starting to make me into quite the pessimistic person. I am beginning to wonder if humanity can ever be truly free of such malevolent oppression brought down upon us by the righteous hand of the ruling class.

:(

I can almost guarantee that not even one of those officers will be fired UNLESS it starts popping up in the media. Then at least they will launch an internal "investigation".

[#FF0000]

This kind of thought is far beyond some of the posters in this thread, I'm afraid.

Why did you ignore my post? Go on, Clarissa. Explain it all.