FBI Checks Cop Killing in Fullerton
On July 5, Fullerton police beat to death an unarmed, harmless man, Kelly Thomas. The great Friends for Fullerton’s Future investigative news site has been breaking this story, and the Fullerton PD’s cover up of the six thug-cops, for weeks.
Following the formal request of Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson, the FBI now is looking into this case. FFFF has the story here.
It’s embarrassing not only for Orange County, but the state of California, the the Feds have gotten involved in this. The city took weeks to question witnesses.
O.C. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has done little. Ditto for California Attorney General Kamala Harris.
To read more about this, click here for recent FFFF articles on the killing, including an interview on the John & Ken show of the only witness to come forward.
Some of the latest claims against the brutal cops:
* One officer supposedly beat Kelly Thomas with the butt of his Taser until blood started coming up all over the officer’s arms and hands.
* Another officer supposedly drop knees Kelly Thomas’ nose and throat with the full force of his body weight multiple times, crushing the victim’s throat.
* This happened while Kelly Thomas was not moving or resisting.
There’s also a video, where you can hear the poor man being Tased — even though he’s already unconscious.
This truly is a major miscarriage of justice. It’s like the Rodney King beating of 20 years ago — except King survived.
And the killing of this “gentle man,” as friends and family described him, is but one example of police gone berserk all across America. Usually they beat and kill and harass with impunity.
This time they might not get away with it.
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Budget cuts eliminated the “beating innocents almost to death” training. Clearly more funding is required at the Fullerton Police department.
David: You’re even more cynical about the Stasi than I am.
— John Seiler
Of course, it’s no surprise that the Watchdog loves the FFFF. They share the same zeal for persecuting public employees at every turn rather than wait for the investigators to do their job. Then, of course, it won’t matter. When the investigation does come out, it will not matter if the cops are cleared or not. They have already been convicted in the court of public opinion, based mostly on the rants of FFFF and some grainy cellphone video taken from at least 50 feet away in the dark. Yeah, that’s real evidence. Yes, I saw the pictures of Kelly Thomas after the beating. How much was done by the cops? Remember, this is a homeless man whose personal hygiene was probably not at the best. We have no idea what he looked like before his confrontation with the cops. And, in my travels, I’ve seen some pretty hideous looking homeless due to their inability or desire to keep themselves clean.
What I do find really difficult to believe is that a bunch of FPD cops were sitting around the donut shop until they got this call. One of them must have said, “Hey, I really feel like kicking the crap out of someone tonight. I hope this is it.” Then the rest, being bored eating donuts and drinking coffee, chimed in as well. What luck that cop at the transit station when he found Kelly Thomas. Did anyone check his cellphone or his radio logs to see if he called for 5 more bullies to come over and join the fun? I mean, homeless beating is so much more fun when you can share it with your friends.
I know neither you, FFFF or the rest of the citizens who are up in arms over this tragedy will be satisfied with anything less than the firing squad execution of these cops behind the Fullerton Library. But, perhaps you can contain yourselves at least so you can sound righteously indignant when the Most Corrupt DA in the State of California clears them. And the FBI? Don’t make me laugh. They can’t even shoot straight, much less conduct an investigation of a homeless guy.
FFFF is doing a public service. In my reportings on police beatings and killings, the official sources and “police can do no wrong” types cover up and protect one another. Only an outraged public can counteract these kinds of abuses. I recall once when OC DA Tony Rackauckas revealed that internal affairs had coached witnesses, lied and covered up wrongdoing by fellow deputies, he still decided not to prosecute any of these official miscreants, who know they can get away with awful behavior. Police are rarely prosecuted for on-the-job abuses, so the idea that critics want a firing squad is typical union hyperbole. A little accountability is all we want.
It has little to do with union hyperbole. All of us (an I am a peace officer, but you knew that) want justice when justice is due. But, how can justice be done in the newspaper or blog? Is it too much to ask that this investigation take place, with public scrutiny but without the ranting, before a decision is made? What about those times when the cops were right? And, believe it or not, internal affairs investigations go on everyday with little public input. And, cops are disciplined everyday.
So, if not the firing squad, Steve, what do you consider a just punishment for these six officers? I mean, it is apparent that you and FFFF have made up you minds already and the 6 are guilty. No official investigation from the DA or even the FBI stating otherwise will satisfy you.
Oh, and by the way, how would the most corrupt DA in California know what goes on in internal affairs? His investigators are not there. So, again, is this just supposition on his part? And, how long ago? I suspect those were the “good old days” when cops had little oversight. I seriously doubt that happens these days.
Keep da Peace,
I have never found police officers interested in “justice” when it comes to possible wrongdoing or excessive force by fellow officers. I have found quite the opposite — full on protection, no matter how awful the incident. The only exception is police officers who commit crimes on the job and even then there always are those union members who defend this folks. This idea that the media should shut up until the investigation takes place is absurd. You know darn well that the investigations take a really long time and then they are exempt from the California Public Records Act, which means that none of the details are released until the eventual civil trial. Police agencies often lie/spin what took place. Their goal is to get people to stop paying attention to the event. But you just want us to shut up and believe the authorities. Justice is rarely done in these internal investigations and newspapers and blogs play a vital role in informing the public and stirring debate. FFFF is doing the right thing.
Keep da Peace wrote: “So, if not the firing squad, Steve, what do you consider a just punishment for these six officers? I mean, it is apparent that you and FFFF have made up you minds already and the 6 are guilty. No official investigation from the DA or even the FBI stating otherwise will satisfy you.”
Sir, you are exaggerating our stance.
First, we want open investigations, not secret ones. As Steven Greenhut pointed out above, investigations into police brutality are exempt from the California Public Records Act. I remember the politics of that. The exemption was the reward Gov. Gray Davis gave “law enforcement” after most of their organizations switch from supporting Republicans to supporting Democrats. And he gave the cops massive pension increases.
Second, we want the police in almost every jurisdiction to stop acting like they’re U.S. troops and we’re Iraqis. The mentality of most — but not all — cops the past 20 years is that they are an occupation force and citizens the unruly locals. This has developed to a great extent because of Bill Clinton’s nationalization of police with his 100,000 cops program. Although he never got near that number, he did achieve his main goal of turning local cops into centralized federales.
If you want to see many more examples of sickening police brutality, see Will Grigg’s writings on LewRockwell.com: http://www.lewrockwell.com/grigg/grigg-arch.html
Thank you, John and Steve. Your comments are thoughtful and stir debate. I doubt seriously, that these cops would get a fair shake if the ongoing investigation were to be made public. What if, just what if, all of the investigations discover the same thing – that the officers acted appropriately (and, I am not saying it will)? Will you then say the investigations, including the FBI investigation, are whitewash? Or have you made up your minds that, no matter what, the street evidence shows these are bad cops?
Again, thanks for your article, John and comments from both of you.
Thanks Keep da Peace for a good debate!
I want to thank you so much for your comments in this debate! Joey Pinasco civil trial 2012! Please everyone check out the web site joeypinasco.com
Joey was never in any kind of trouble. Two CHP, Michael Walling and Steve Coffman need to be held accountable for their actions! And it’s about time that the public finds out what is going on! We as the public pay these public servants that are suppose to keep our family’s safe! Hold some of these officer’s that are trigger happy accountable and maybe then we can trust our police officer’s again. And they wonder why so many of their officer’s are getting hurt on their jobs. Maybe it’s because of their own attitude’s on the job! Something needs to change!
Thank you Steve! We need more people like you to OPEN their eyes!
God Bless you! JUSICE FOR JOEY!!!