In Fullerton, California on the 10th of July, 2011, Fullerton Police approached Kelly Thomas on a park bench at the Orange County public transportation facility. Thomas, the son of a local deputy, had been diagnosed as schizophrenic since his early twenties. Like many, he went on and off his medications. He became a drifter, mostly homeless and evasive with his family about where he lived. He was well known in the area, and had a reputation for being well behaved, polite and friendly. Kelly Thomas was 37 years old.
Police asked Thomas about reports of cars being broken into in the nearby parking lot. When they discovered some suspected stolen items in his backpack, Thomas made a fatal decision. He ran.
None of the news stories identify the police officers (only one of which was suspended immediately after the killing) or state why there were six officers present. What is clear is that when police caught Thomas they beat him to death. A surveillance camera at the Orange County Transportation Authority caught video of the event. One of the many witnesses also recorded a video with a cell phone.
Police beat Thomas unmercifully, flailing on him with fists, batons and flashlights even after it was obvious that he was unconscious. One of the videos captured Thomas's screams while he was tazed by the police. Witnesses say Thomas was beaten even after he was hog tied. Whether Thomas fought the police at first or whether they were over-excited from chasing him, Police far surpassed any authority they had to subdue him.
Thomas' last words were pleas for mercy from the police. He cried for his father. Once the beating stopped, Thomas was hospitalized and placed on life support. Within five days Thomas was dead from his wounds.
His father was offered $900,000.00 from the city of Fullerton that he refused so that the story would not be hushed up with a non disclosure agreement. Protests are planned for Saturday August 6, 2011.
It's hard to do anything but criticize the police response in this situation. No matter how belligerent Thomas may have become, no matter how much he may have provoked the police, no matter how much he may have fought against them, there is no justification for six police to kill an unarmed man. There is no evidence at this time that Thomas did any of these things. The only thing that is clear is that Thomas tried to run away from the police. At this time the police version of events has not been made public. They are silent probably because they understandably fear a lawsuit in the near future. But how could their be any justification for this? Six trained and equipped police officers could not subdue this unarmed man without taking his life in the process? Whoever these police officers are, they have acted so unprofessionally and so egregiously that they have become the very thing they are supposed to be against: criminals.
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