The story says members of ANSWER were present, and that characterization leaves open questions. Was a group of ANSWER members there, representing ANSWER? If so, was the group ANSWER invited by the father?
Neither Ron Thomas nor Kelly's mother or stepmother invited them, or any other particular group, but these types always show up whenever there is a protest of any sort. I came for 90 minutes to take notes and pictures for an article I am writing. Yeah, there were some radical types walking around - one old guy was trying to get people to buy "The Militant" but no one seemed very interested. The majority were regular people who chose to stand in the very hot sun for hours to express their disgust and support the family. An open invitation to this event had been on Facebook for the last week so anyone who wanted to could come, and by Friday evening over 700 people had indicated they would show up. The family said they were gratified and overwhelmed at the show of community support.
I spoke to people who were old, young - lots of young people - and of all racial backgrounds. There were also self-described "Christian libertarians" and "conservatives" there, as well as a lot of people who came by to sign the recall petition. One couple came from Fresno, and I saw two guys in Teamsters t-shirts. There were a number of parents with babies in strollers. I talked to people who had law enforcement ties, although some didn't want to get specific about them. (I have to wonder if they weren't cops themselves.) Kelly Thomas's father is a retired OC sheriff's deputy who used to teach take-down procedures, so I expect some of his former co-workers were there.
The crowd was well-mannered, well-behaved, and loud. Judging by the continual horn-honking that punctuated the air the entire while I was there, there was a lot of community support. Every time an OCTD bus drove by loud cheers and applause erupted in appreciation for the bus driver who recorded the spontaneous witness statements. Sometimes a bus driver would honk back, which really made the crowd cheer. I spoke to Ron Thomas and he said he does know not the crowd number, but that there were never less than "hundreds" at any time. The best estimate is 500 people. From my observation I would say that number could easily be accurate.
The protest took place right in front of the Fullerton police department, a beautiful old Spanish building. Across the street a large banner with the words "RELEASE THE TAPE" was strung across two trees. The police did not interfere with the demonstration in any way, and no police cars drove down Commonwealth the entire time I was there. FPD kept a very low profile, which was wise because many, many of the signs called for the police chief to step down.
IMO, that sentiment was expressed best by the largest sign I saw in the crowd: "Not One Of Your Officers Stopped The Beating, Sellers: Resign NOW!"