Posted on 01/22/2014 3:13:37 PM PST by Clintonfatigued
So it wasn’t surprising when, in July 2011, the Fullerton political establishment rushed to the defense of officers who had beaten a 130-pound homeless schizophrenic named Kelly Thomas. The public saw the published photo of Thomas’ horribly swollen and bruised face, yet the mayor went on TV saying he had seen worse injuries in the Vietnam War and that it was unclear what killed Thomas, who died in a hospital days after the whomping.
We also learned that police officers confiscated the video camera of a bystander and were allowed to watch the surveillance video of the incident and essentially get their stories straight before giving their statements. It looked, sadly, like business as usual.
But then something happened to awaken that dormant idealist. Local residents were outraged and began a series of peaceful protests — never mind that the mayor compared them to a lynch mob. Two local businessmen organized and funded a successful recall of council members who they viewed as culpable in downplaying the incident. Then a district attorney with a law-and-order reputation pressed charges against two of the officers, which is a rarity.
The public could see what happened on the released transit-station video: Officer Manuel Ramos confronted Thomas, slipped on a rubber glove and said that he was going to “f—“ him up. Thomas was generally cooperative, yet the painfully long beating and Tasing session began. Thomas begged for his life, but was left in a pool of blood.
There were signs that justice might prevail, but in the ensuing months, the police union helped defeat council reformers. And in the final chapter recently, an Orange County jury issued “not guilty” verdicts for ex-officers Ramos and Jay Cicinelli. The latter already is pushing to bereinstated to the department.
(Excerpt) Read more at humanevents.com ...
Police unions are just as evil as any other. They’d defend any cop who did anything and use whatever tactics to do it. Bastards.
They’re the worst; they’re just as bad as defense attorneys who knowingly defend 100% guilty perps.
Cops Arrest 76-Year Old Veteran For Town Meeting ‘Outburst’: “I Asked Them To Speak Louder So We Could Hear”
par for the course
Because we can sleep at night...
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