Posted on 08/07/2011 1:19:38 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Hundreds joined Ron Thomas at a rally Saturday at Fullerton Police Department wanted to see the police chief step down.
At a rally in front of the Fullerton Police Department Saturday calling for the police chief’s resignation, the father of the 37-year-old schizophrenic man who was beaten by police and died said he wanted to see stiff penalties for those involved.
“What I want to see done is the primary guy that was beating my son in the back of the head with a Taser, because this was indeed a hate crime against the homeless and mentally ill, needs to be convicted of a brutal murder with special circumstances,” said Ron Thomas. “I want him to get the death penalty and I’ll pull the switch.”
More than 500 people joined Thomas at the rally many shouting “Justice for Kelly! Jail Killer Cops!” in response to the beating and death of a Kelly Thomas who allegedly fought with officers July 5.
Andy Anderson, a Fullerton resident who helped organize the protest, said they wanted to see the policemen involved lose their jobs.
“The main goal is to get Chief Sellers to step down,” he said. “We are going to show him through unity and all the people here that we don’t want him here anymore. The ultimate goal is prosecution for the 6 officers involved.”
Anderson said Kelly was a fixture in the community and that the beating more evidence of what he described as an overly aggressive police force.
“We are trying to keep his mental illness really out of it,” said Anderson about Kelly’s medical condition. “What it comes down to is, he was a schizophrenic yeah, he was a homeless guy, but six police officers beat him to death and that is really the story here and I think sometimes the mental illness thing is putting a shroud over what actually happened.”
He said in addition to the chief stepping down he wants to see the desk officer who watched the video during the beating lose his job and the six officers lose their jobs, pension and serve jail time, “just like any other citizen would.”
A Fullerton police lieutenant, who refused to give his name, said there have been no arrests and that crowd has not been unruly. He also said there has been no special police deployment for the protest.
“It's just our regular number of officers that are serving the city today,” he said. “Nothing's going on. That's all I have to say. We're (the police department) not making any statements about this (protest).”
Members of the coalition of Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, or ANSWER, and mental health advocates joined the parents of Kelly Thomas in the demonstration.
Six officers believed to be involved in Thomas' arrest were publicly identified by a blogger, and that reportedly caused the wife and children of one of the officers to move to a hotel after the family received a death threat.
Kelly Thomas was allegedly suspected of trying to break into cars at the Fullerton transit center. He was in a coma and died in a hospital five days after the arrest. His father, a former sheriff's deputy, made public an image of his bloodied and bruised son in a hospital bed, with at least one black eye, a big cut on his forehead and what appeared to be broken nose.
Surveillance video shows part of the arrest, but authorities say they will not make it public. The FBI is monitoring the investigation and will hand up its findings to the Justice Department.
A candlelight vigil is planned for Saturday night at 8 p.m. at Fullerton City Hall.
Perhaps the deed was done before a response could be made.
I don’t even see a trial. What I do see are six promotions even if the City and Department has to create the positions.
Nice try. You made a stupid statement of fact [sic] and when pressed have nothing to back it up.
Woah, woah, woah! You cannot be serious. You are 64 years old and I can’t believe you are foolish enough to believe I was referring to ALL cops? C’mon Tap. Don’t be silly.
I never said any such thing. Rather, I was referring to the 6 cops that were caught on video tape beating & tasing the life out of Mr. Kelley. To my knowledge, you are the only FReeper to make such an assumption from my post.
Please be advised that I grew up in Fullerton, CA. I still have family that live there a visit them often. I even know a Sgt. on the force (who shall remain nameless). I’m not going to reiterate what I know of and have seen in regards to the FPD. If you are interested, you are welcome to check out my previous posts on this issue on several other FR threads.
Also, I don’t hate LEOs. I hate the criminal element within law enforcement and am very critical of that element. I have several friends from college that work for LAPD, LACSD, Brea PD and even one in the FBI. They are still some of my best friends today and I have the highest regard and respect for them and the job they do for us. But, I am also a very outspoken critic of the double-standards between citizens and LEOs. Sorry, but I call it as I see it.
Now, with respect to my comments to you:
PLEASE ACCEPT MY MOST SINCERE APOLOGY as I did not mean to insult your deceased mother or cast any aspersions about her. I am very sorry and admit that I went too far and my comments towards you were unacceptable and in bad taste. Won’t happen again.
EK
If one has no common sense then why have a conversation...if you truly believe one has a better chance of being killed by a cop than a criminal then have at it...have a good day!!!
Don’t think a thing about it.....I probably should have realized you weren’t speaking of all cops...it’s just that there are some on FR who have made such a statement in the past. Sometimes we at FR get a little lively. You have a good day!!!
Understood and thanks. Nice to know we can disagree vehemently, but in the end come to a mutual understanding and have no hard feelings.
Very much appreciated.
You made a stupid assertion with nothing to back it when challenged. So you tried the grade school trick of asking me to prove the reverse of your silliness. Not interested in school yard games where you expect me to provide the support for your argument.
First off I’m sixty four years old so enough of the condesending SON crap!!!Secondly the so called stupid assertion I made was that one is much more likely to be killed by a criminal rather than a cop is a fact any resonable person could see!!!
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