Kelly Thomas

Full.Duck · 30-07-2011 10:56PM #1

Just came across this and i am disgusted.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/witnesses-sought-in-fullerton-police-altercation-that-left-man-dead.html

6 Police officers tazered a homeless man up to 5 times, smashed his face in with the end of the tazer and flashlights , knee dropped him in the head and throat. He fell into a coma and died.

I have no words for how sickened i am by this act. The 6 police officers are still working to this day, one took sick leave i think. The media bearly even got a sniff of this and nobody is being held accountable.

Temptamperu · 30-07-2011 11:11PM

I read on Gawker today that the FBI are looking into it.

Coriolanus · 30-07-2011 11:19PM

LA police brutality case ending in a fatality. This has never happened before right?

Potential-Monke · 30-07-2011 11:19PM

To do something like that you'd want to be sick in the head...

DaveDaRave · 30-07-2011 11:19PM

I believe they got off because they shouted "He's coming right for us!!!"

c-note · 30-07-2011 11:22PM

America... i was there some years ago visiting relations who had previously lived in Ireland.

I borowed one of their cars for about a week. Their advice was threefold:

1 Remeber to drive on the Right hand side of the road.

2 If someone cuts you off on the freeway etc DONT beep/flash/signal, and if someone gives you aggro in a traffic situation stay calm and dont react, because 1 in 2 have guns in the car.

3 Thirdly If you have any encounter with the police, no matter where, when or what the circumstances are; Do EXACTLY as they say, when they say or theres a fair chance they'll shoot you.

A friend of mine was biking across the usa and had set up camp near Yosemite in california. He was stopped about 20 meters from the road making himself something to eat. a patrol car stoped on the road and the officer was looking at him. my buddy was holding a large-ish knife maybe 15cm blade, which he put back in his pocket and began to walk to the car assuming the cops were wondering what he was up to. que the cop exiting his car drawing his gun and yelling "hands in the air... down on the ground etc". when they found out he was a simple harmless J1 student they relaxed but warned him that he had approached police officer with a concealed weapon, and in future if he was approacing a cop make sure the cop was aware of any potential weapons, or he was likely to get himself shot.

Andrew Hanlon(20) from dundrum was unarmed and shot SEVEN times in Oregan in 2008.

Everyone in america knows you dont f**k with da Po-lice.

Absurdum · 30-07-2011 11:30PM

Kelly Thomas - sounds like a page 3 girl, looks like a hobo

Killer Pigeon · 30-07-2011 11:31PM

It's terrible, Joe.

pragmatic1 · 30-07-2011 11:51PM

Scumbags. Some people shouldnt be let near a position of authority.

starviewadams · 30-07-2011 11:55PM

Jaysus thought this was about my ex!

brevity · 15-01-2014 11:59AM

The cops were found not guilty

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0114-kelly-thomas-verdict-20140114,0,6482344.story

Potential-Monke · 15-01-2014 12:38PM

Surprising, but that's what a highly paid lawyer can do for you.

J_E · 15-01-2014 01:21PM

Finding the cops Not Guilty was one of the most devoid judgements I've ever seen. You can hear Kelly in the video screaming for life while being pummeled. You can also hear the police officer clearly saying "I'm gonna f*ck you up" putting on gloves in front of him. The guy didn't do anything to deserve such a horrific attack. It's murder in my book. It makes me really think twice about ever wanting to visit America, and the worse thing is, it's not the first or last time something like this happened.

It's these sadistic groups of people that in a sense, justifies the term 'pigs' when referring to parts of the police force. Absolutely horrific, in every way imaginable.

[/MOD SNIP] That video's not suitable for After Hours.

FTA69 · 15-01-2014 01:31PM

brevity wrote: »

The cops were found not guilty

http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-0114-kelly-thomas-verdict-20140114,0,6482344.story

The fellas who beat Rodney King half to death were found not guilty as well. Unfortunately abuse of power is an integral part of most police forces in the world today.

Dyr · 15-01-2014 02:14PM

Called them innocent at the time and was roundly abused on AH for doing so, few posters have egg on their face now i guess

Anyway let the trayvonesque media witch hunt begin,

Seedy Arling · 15-01-2014 02:40PM

Potential-Monke wrote: »

Surprising, but that's what a highly paid lawyer can do for you.

Chewbacca defence.

RDM_83 again · 15-01-2014 02:51PM

FTA69 wrote: »

The fellas who beat Rodney King half to death were found not guilty as well. Unfortunately abuse of power is an integral part of most police forces in the world today.

While I don't condone what happened to Rodney King in the slightest, I dislike the way he's always thrown out as an example as he did provoke officers and he put numerous lives at risk in the car chase. The other people with him in the car at the time were arrested without incident.

If I was an LA resident I wouldn't be worried about things like Rodney King case because I could never see myself in a situation of deliberately trying to antagonise police officers.

What would worry me and is much more serious is thing like RAMPART where stuff occurred that makes Rodney Kings situation seem like School Yard bullying in comparison. The thing is though RAMPART doesn't fit neatly into the White Authorities against the Black man way of thinking in the slightest so perhaps thats why its not often used as an example.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar · 15-01-2014 02:53PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

What would worry me and is much more serious is thing like RAMPART where stuff occurred that makes Rodney Kings situation seem like School Yard bullying in comparison. The thing is though RAMPART doesn't fit neatly into the White Authorities against the Black man way of thinking in the slightest so perhaps thats why its not often used as an example.

it does make for some god damn incredible tv though

end of the road · 15-01-2014 04:06PM

Bambi wrote: »

Called them innocent at the time and was roundly abused on AH for doing so, few posters have egg on their face now i guess

Anyway let the trayvonesque media witch hunt begin,

you called it right allright, as they were always going to be found not guilty, american police can behave with impunity, bet you though if one took a little coke he'd have the book thrown at him but cause a death by behaving like vermin (which these officers did) and you'l get away with it, good old america, the land of the free

FTA69 · 15-01-2014 04:14PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

While I don't condone what happened to Rodney King in the slightest, I dislike the way he's always thrown out as an example as he did provoke officers and he put numerous lives at risk in the car chase. The other people with him in the car at the time were arrested without incident.

If I was an LA resident I wouldn't be worried about things like Rodney King case because I could never see myself in a situation of deliberately trying to antagonise police officers.

What would worry me and is much more serious is thing like RAMPART where stuff occurred that makes Rodney Kings situation seem like School Yard bullying in comparison. The thing is though RAMPART doesn't fit neatly into the White Authorities against the Black man way of thinking in the slightest so perhaps thats why its not often used as an example.

Police brutality, racism and the rest in the USA isn't limited to Rodney King. There are countless other examples we can draw on. I am only using him as an example of how a jury decision isn't necessarily cast-iron, least of all when it involves the police.

The video shows it all really.

120_Minutes · 15-01-2014 04:27PM

end of the road wrote: »

good old america, the land of the free

[Bill Hicks] You are free, to do as we tell you[/Bill Hicks]

RDM_83 again · 15-01-2014 05:02PM

FTA69 wrote: »

Police brutality, racism and the rest in the USA isn't limited to Rodney King. There are countless other examples we can draw on. I am only using him as an example of how a jury decision isn't necessarily cast-iron, least of all when it involves the police.

The video shows it all really.

I don't disagree with the notion of the police in the USA being brutal on occasion, I just think Rodney King isn't the best example and he is always trotted out because it fits a nice clear cut world view that ties into the race thing.

In the Federal King case that actually resulted in the conviction of two of the officers, the judge made a big point of how most of what they did (including a good part of the beating) was legal because King was resisting arrest.

In the Rampart case I mentioned in my post, the Police officer that was shot was pointing a gun and threatening to "cap them" in a road rage incident, to me thats much more frightening and indicative of seriously violent and dangerous officers being in the force than 2 officers striking 5/6 batton blows more than they should have in the arrest of a resisting suspect.
The difference is that case doesn't have the right aspects (being a black officer threatening to kill somebody he presumes is a white civilian).

FTA69 · 15-01-2014 06:11PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

I don't disagree with the notion of the police in the USA being brutal on occasion,

I'd go so far as to say they're institutionally racist.

I just think Rodney King isn't the best example and he is always trotted out because it fits a nice clear cut world view that ties into the race thing.

It was popularised because it was caught on camera. Black people for years were well accustomed to police brutality and racism and this simply came to symbolise it because it was there for all to see. The acquittals were the straw that broke the camel's back and was the catalyst for years of pent up rage to emerge.

The difference is that case doesn't have the right aspects (being a black officer threatening to kill somebody he presumes is a white civilian).

What's the "right aspect"? Do you think it's actually whites who are oppressed in America or something?

UCDVet · 15-01-2014 06:43PM

RDM_83 again wrote: »

While I don't condone what happened to Rodney King in the slightest, I dislike the way he's always thrown out as an example as he did provoke officers and he put numerous lives at risk in the car chase. The other people with him in the car at the time were arrested without incident.

If I was an LA resident I wouldn't be worried about things like Rodney King case because I could never see myself in a situation of deliberately trying to antagonise police officers.

What would worry me and is much more serious is thing like RAMPART where stuff occurred that makes Rodney Kings situation seem like School Yard bullying in comparison. The thing is though RAMPART doesn't fit neatly into the White Authorities against the Black man way of thinking in the slightest so perhaps thats why its not often used as an example.

Everyone has heard of Rodney King - but most people (myself included) just think it was 4 white cops who decided to beat some black guy. I honestly believed that. I didn't know any of the details - but it was just common knowledge. They cops beat a black guy, then the jury let them off because cops can do whatever they want, and the city rioted.

It wasn't 10+ years later that I stumbled unto the Rodney King's wikipedia page. This world is filled with injustice - but King getting beat doesn't even register for me.

As you've pointed out there were three people in the vehicle. The other two didn't resist arrest and were arrested without any violence.

King was very drunk, driving over the speed limit, while on probation for a previous robbery. And when cops tried to pull him over, he tried to out-drive them, going over 80mph IN RESIDENTIAL areas before driving into a dead-end. Then he refused to comply with the police, acted all sorts of crazy, physically resisted arrest, fought off four cops, was tasered twice, got up and RAN at one of the cops (who hit him). Then the cop stops hitting up, AND HE GETS UP AGAIN.

He continued to resist while they hit him 33 more times (all captured on video). The first jury acquitted three of the officers, later a federal investigation concluded the same thing - that 3 of them were innocent of wrong-doing but the 4th (the one King charged) hit him an extra SIX times after he stopped resisting.

So, to conclude, 27 of those 33 were reasonable. That's when King gave up. Then the guy he attacked hit him six more times....and that was deemed a crime....

King went on to drive drunk lots of times and continue to be a big drain on society. Two years later he crashed into a wall (while drunk). Two years after that he was arrested for hitting his wife *WITH HIS CAR*. In 2003 he was drunk again and fleeing from police when he crashed into SOMEONE'S HOUSE and he broke his pelvis. Again - drunk driving is bad enough, but this was another high-speed pursuit where he was fleeing from police. Maybe he was hoping for another 4 million dollar payday?

I mean, it just kept going on and on....until 2012 when he was found dead in a swimming pool.

He had alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and PCP in his system.

Officer Powell - the bad guy who beat King, was a honor student who always wanted to be a cop. He finished top of his class at the police academy. No history of violence and none of my searches have found any problems with the law. His crime was not recognizing that 27 was an appropriate number of times to hit someone who was drunk, speeding, fleeing police, resisting arrest, who'd fought off four police officers, overcome being tasered *TWICE* and still RAN AT THE COPS. He clearly over-reacted by letting the hit count reach 33. He had to stop being a cop, but went on to be a productive member of society. And, while frequently accused of being racist, he had spent lots of time with children of different races as he was growing up because his parents were foster parents. They took in children of lots of different races. From what I can find, he does computer stuff these days.

Oh - and the charges against King were dropped. He literally got a get-out-of-jail free card along with his four million dollars.

At least, based on the information available on Wikipedia.

What I find really depressing is that people were so enraged over King they were willing to take to the streets and riot. I mean, wow. I assume they were all as uninformed about it as I was and thought they were fighting the good fight.

seamus · 15-01-2014 06:55PM

I don't know enough about this case to draw any conclusions.

The fact that these cops were found not guilty by a jury who appear to have seen a video of the incident (which I haven't seen), kind of rules out the old argument that this was "cops doing whatever the hell they like", doesn't it? Surely if it was a straightforward beatdown, as this thread and facebook seem to suggest, then the jury would have seen that too?

BillyMitchel · 15-01-2014 06:59PM

Wow this is two years old and verdict was only this week.

The coppers were guilty as hell here. The photo of what they done to that man is disgusting. Justice my arse.

J_E · 15-01-2014 07:01PM

seamus wrote: »

I don't know enough about this case to draw any conclusions.

The fact that these cops were found not guilty by a jury who appear to have seen a video of the incident (which I haven't seen), kind of rules out the old argument that this was "cops doing whatever the hell they like", doesn't it? Surely if it was a straightforward beatdown, as this thread and facebook seem to suggest, then the jury would have seen that too?

The guy was tasered, beaten, and couldn't physically breathe. He was trying to tell the police this as it happened and was screaming for someone to help him. He died a few days later. They weren't even found guilty of battery. the guy never so much as said a bad word to the men and they were putting on gloves in front of his face telling him that he was going to get beaten up. Looking at a picture of him after the beating alone easily shows the excessive force they used. It's called murder, or manslaughter at the very least. I'm still shaken by the video...

end of the road · 15-01-2014 07:14PM

UCDVet wrote: »

Everyone has heard of Rodney King - but most people (myself included) just think it was 4 white cops who decided to beat some black guy. I honestly believed that. I didn't know any of the details - but it was just common knowledge. They cops beat a black guy, then the jury let them off because cops can do whatever they want, and the city rioted.

It wasn't 10+ years later that I stumbled unto the Rodney King's wikipedia page. This world is filled with injustice - but King getting beat doesn't even register for me.

As you've pointed out there were three people in the vehicle. The other two didn't resist arrest and were arrested without any violence.

King was very drunk, driving over the speed limit, while on probation for a previous robbery. And when cops tried to pull him over, he tried to out-drive them, going over 80mph IN RESIDENTIAL areas before driving into a dead-end. Then he refused to comply with the police, acted all sorts of crazy, physically resisted arrest, fought off four cops, was tasered twice, got up and RAN at one of the cops (who hit him). Then the cop stops hitting up, AND HE GETS UP AGAIN.

He continued to resist while they hit him 33 more times (all captured on video). The first jury acquitted three of the officers, later a federal investigation concluded the same thing - that 3 of them were innocent of wrong-doing but the 4th (the one King charged) hit him an extra SIX times after he stopped resisting.

So, to conclude, 27 of those 33 were reasonable. That's when King gave up. Then the guy he attacked hit him six more times....and that was deemed a crime....

King went on to drive drunk lots of times and continue to be a big drain on society. Two years later he crashed into a wall (while drunk). Two years after that he was arrested for hitting his wife *WITH HIS CAR*. In 2003 he was drunk again and fleeing from police when he crashed into SOMEONE'S HOUSE and he broke his pelvis. Again - drunk driving is bad enough, but this was another high-speed pursuit where he was fleeing from police. Maybe he was hoping for another 4 million dollar payday?

I mean, it just kept going on and on....until 2012 when he was found dead in a swimming pool.

He had alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and PCP in his system.

Officer Powell - the bad guy who beat King, was a honor student who always wanted to be a cop. He finished top of his class at the police academy. No history of violence and none of my searches have found any problems with the law. His crime was not recognizing that 27 was an appropriate number of times to hit someone who was drunk, speeding, fleeing police, resisting arrest, who'd fought off four police officers, overcome being tasered *TWICE* and still RAN AT THE COPS. He clearly over-reacted by letting the hit count reach 33. He had to stop being a cop, but went on to be a productive member of society. And, while frequently accused of being racist, he had spent lots of time with children of different races as he was growing up because his parents were foster parents. They took in children of lots of different races. From what I can find, he does computer stuff these days.

Oh - and the charges against King were dropped. He literally got a get-out-of-jail free card along with his four million dollars.

At least, based on the information available on Wikipedia.

What I find really depressing is that people were so enraged over King they were willing to take to the streets and riot. I mean, wow. I assume they were all as uninformed about it as I was and thought they were fighting the good fight.

i think the fact they hit him that many times shows how incompitent they actually were, their was enough of them there they should have been able to restrain him, the way they handeled it was a shambles in fairness

UCDVet · 15-01-2014 07:17PM

end of the road wrote: »

i think the fact they hit him that many times shows how incompitent they actually were, their was enough of them there they should have been able to restrain him, the way they handeled it was a shambles in fairness

Maybe they were trying to use the minimal amount of force?

I'm sure they could have shot him and ended it.
In fairness, none of the officers were hurt, so it seemed like they handled it pretty well, except for not recognizing when he'd stopped resisting.

end of the road · 15-01-2014 07:19PM

seamus wrote: »

I don't know enough about this case to draw any conclusions.

The fact that these cops were found not guilty by a jury who appear to have seen a video of the incident (which I haven't seen), kind of rules out the old argument that this was "cops doing whatever the hell they like", doesn't it? Surely if it was a straightforward beatdown, as this thread and facebook seem to suggest, then the jury would have seen that too?

it could be the case that the jury are very trusting of the police and felt their actions were justified, another jury who might also be trusting of the police might have decided their actions were over the top

end of the road · 15-01-2014 07:38PM

UCDVet wrote: »

Maybe they were trying to use the minimal amount of force?

jesus, if thats minimal force then i think we know what full force can be, they over reacted, if 4 cops aren't able to restrain a single man without having to beat him over 30 times then its time for them to be demoted to desk duties or sacked, loose cannons comes to mind

UCDVet wrote: »

I'm sure they could have shot him and ended it.

i'm surprised they didn't.

UCDVet wrote: »

In fairness, none of the officers were hurt, so it seemed like they handled it pretty well

not being hurt doesn't mean you have handled something well, they didn't handle this well at all

UCDVet wrote: »

except for not recognizing when he'd stopped resisting.

exactly, so therefore they should be on desk duties or sacked, letting them back on the streets will be another disaster waiting to happen

Kelly Thomas

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