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Caught on tape: Police beat and taser 'gentle' mentally-ill homeless man to death
The Daily Mail ^ | 6:27 PM on 27th July 2011 | RACHEL QUIGLEY

Posted on 07/28/2011 11:25:52 AM PDT by Smogger

Edited on 07/28/2011 11:47:56 AM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]

A shocking video has been released allegedly showing police officers tasering and beating a homeless man to death who they claim was resisting arrest. Though the video is not clear, eye witnesses say the homeless man - Kelly Thomas, 37 - was unable to put up any resistance and was lying on the ground on his front when the attack took place on July 5. His screams and cries for his father can be heard amid the tasering noises.

Graphic photo at link.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: beatdown; communism; corruption; deadjackbootswalking; donutwatch; fascism; fullerton; jbt; kellythomas; leo; leothugs; leoviolence; lping; murder; police; policestate; rapeofliberty; roguecop; taser; tyranny
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To: SaraJohnson

Any moment now, His Most Greatest Majesty will go on tv and say the cops acted stupidly. Oh, wait. The guy was white,,,


121 posted on 07/28/2011 4:00:17 PM PDT by chessplayer
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To: rokkitapps

“the guy is dead, he didn’t take a beating and live. he died.

and you try to justify a killing? wow.”

Not a killing. A murder. And they did`nt care how many people witnessed it or taped it.


122 posted on 07/28/2011 4:02:29 PM PDT by chessplayer
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To: Tarantulas
I believe Dad holds some responsibility for what happened, simply because he didn’t tell the authorities that his son was dangerous and needed to be taken off the streets.

The streets are filled with homeless who are mentally ill. Take him off the streets to where? Why? No one is even alleging that he committed any crime. Someone just thought that he was behaving suspiciously. Cops handle this situation all the time without killing the person they are supposed to be questioning. If every time a cop in LA went to question an erratically behaving homeless person it resulted in that persons death the city would grind to a halt under the weight of lawsuits. Suburban police forces in upper class cities with low crime rates are notorious for this type of overreaction.

123 posted on 07/28/2011 4:05:41 PM PDT by Smogger
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To: Molon Labbie

“I strongly suspect this guy punched some of the officers during the arrest...”

If I was being beaten and tasered to death by 6 cops, I think I might take a swing at them.


124 posted on 07/28/2011 4:06:26 PM PDT by chessplayer
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To: Tarantulas

We had a fellow here in Albuquerque that went off his meds and spun out of control very quickly, and killed 5 people, including 2 police officers that were performing a “mental health check” on him at the request of his doctor after the doctor spoke to the man’s brother. The brother was very torn up over the situation, and had tried to get more help for his brother, but there was only so much he could do. Sometimes it just happens, as in this case where calls a couple hours earlier would have made the difference.


125 posted on 07/28/2011 4:10:32 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Dutchboy88
The inmates around here just can't believe there may have been any justification, at all.

I can't believe you used the word "justification" ?

I watched the video as well and quite frankly there isn't a lot to see, except for the picture of the guys face turned to mush and his dead body in the morgue.

I don't care how much a guy is resisting or fighting back, there is no "justification" for the end result. A guy beat to a pulp and dead by 5 or 6 LEO

Are not these officers trained for this type of encounter ? 5 or 6 officers could not put this guy in handcuffs ? He wasn't 6'5' 260 lbs body builder.

126 posted on 07/28/2011 4:15:31 PM PDT by Popman (Obama. First Marxist to turn a five year Marxist plan into a 4 year administration.)
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To: Squawk 8888

“I can understand why they didn’t intervene. Had they challenged the cops, the Blue Wall would come down around them for the rest of their lives and they would have to get out of town.”

No they would`nt have. They would have just gunned them down in the street and claimed self defense.


127 posted on 07/28/2011 4:21:54 PM PDT by chessplayer
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To: chessplayer

I wasn’t there and the current video is pretty poor, but knowing the job as I do, the deceased probably took the swing when he was being searched or was about to be handcuffed. If he connected,(and it appears that he did at least to one) well, not condoning the level they took it to, but if someone punched you, what would your immediate response be? Furthermore, if they punched someone you considered like a brother, would you not respond in kind?


128 posted on 07/28/2011 4:22:17 PM PDT by Molon Labbie
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To: Tarantulas

would report the man to the mental health authorities before he got involved in an altercation. It seems to me that Dad had some previous knowledge and experience that his son had gotten out of control in the past while off his meds. I believe Dad holds some responsibility for what happened, simply because he didn’t tell the authorities that his son was dangerous and needed to be taken off the streets

What you dont understand is that there is NOTHING that anyone can do UNLESS he is a danger to himself, danger to others or in imminent risk of death because of his poor judgement in caring for himself.

There are no MENTAL HEALTH authorities. There is nothing except the police. And the police wont touch them unless they meet the above criteria, for fear of lawsuit brought about by your local leftist attorney. Crazy doesnt get you committed unless there is a distinct reason. Hundreds of thousands of family memebers go through this every year.


129 posted on 07/28/2011 4:26:12 PM PDT by Chickensoup (In the 20th century 200 million people were killed by their own governments.)
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To: Tarantulas

would report the man to the mental health authorities before he got involved in an altercation. It seems to me that Dad had some previous knowledge and experience that his son had gotten out of control in the past while off his meds. I believe Dad holds some responsibility for what happened, simply because he didn’t tell the authorities that his son was dangerous and needed to be taken off the streets

What you dont understand is that there is NOTHING that anyone can do UNLESS he is a danger to himself, danger to others or in imminent risk of death because of his poor judgement in caring for himself.

There are no MENTAL HEALTH authorities. There is nothing except the police. And the police wont touch them unless they meet the above criteria, for fear of lawsuit brought about by your local leftist attorney. Crazy doesnt get you committed unless there is a distinct reason. Hundreds of thousands of family memebers go through this every year.


130 posted on 07/28/2011 4:26:16 PM PDT by Chickensoup (In the 20th century 200 million people were killed by their own governments.)
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To: WayneS

“Courage, then, my countrymen; our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty.”


131 posted on 07/28/2011 4:29:34 PM PDT by Justa
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To: Tarantulas
It seems to me that someone who really cared about his son, and knew that he wasn’t up to date on his medications to the point where he couldn’t understand what people said to him, would report the man to the mental health authorities before he got involved in an altercation. It seems to me that Dad had some previous knowledge and experience that his son had gotten out of control in the past while off his meds. I believe Dad holds some responsibility for what happened, simply because he didn’t tell the authorities that his son was dangerous and needed to be taken off the streets.

I have a family member who has schizophrenia and has been for decades. You need to really walk a mile in this dad's shoes. There comes a point where your life cannot be completely consumed by spending every single minute of every day watching after your "relative" to make sure they are OK and on the straight and narrow. It is almost impossible to do. It grinds your life down to a nub, Remember they are mentally ill and everyday is an adventure into the surreal

As for informing the "mental health authorities" I really have to LOL, please inform yourself a tad. It is virtual impossible to put a mentally disturbed person in lock up. They have "advocacy" groups galore to make sure their "rights" are not infringed upon

We have been trying for literally decades to put this family member of ours into a institution but until she actually harms herself or someone else it's impossible

132 posted on 07/28/2011 4:31:25 PM PDT by Popman (Obama. First Marxist to turn a five year Marxist plan into a 4 year administration.)
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To: Retired Greyhound

>Even if the man were on PCP, there is no reason for him to be beaten like that.<

so you have had a lot of experience fighting people on PCP?
Tell me about the worst one or two please


133 posted on 07/28/2011 4:33:40 PM PDT by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: SaraJohnson

>I saw the video of this beating and it made me sick.<

do you have a link?


134 posted on 07/28/2011 4:34:57 PM PDT by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: Munz; Retired Greyhound

>> “so you have had a lot of experience fighting people on PCP?” <<

.
Get serious, most people cannot even stand on their feet without help if they’ve had much PCP. Its a trank that is given to horses, mules, and elephants.


135 posted on 07/28/2011 4:38:57 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: Munz

Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?

Your alliance with thuggery is outrageous.


136 posted on 07/28/2011 4:41:08 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: chessplayer

>> “Not a killing. A murder. And they did`nt care how many people witnessed it or taped it.” <<

.
Precisely, and its happening way to often these days.


137 posted on 07/28/2011 4:46:33 PM PDT by editor-surveyor (Going 'EGYPT' - 2012!)
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To: editor-surveyor

>Get serious, most people cannot even stand on their feet without help if they’ve had much PCP. Its a trank that is given to horses, mules, and elephants.,

your pretty ignorant to facts.

I am aware of what it was made for. But if you think that people don;t take smaller doses, your WAY out of the loop.

So what your telling me is that you don;t know what your talking about, you have had no experience and this is a good time to jump on a band wagon. Got it.

>Your alliance with thuggery is outrageous.,

No, I wasn’t defending anything. I asked you a question very polity. BTW - the thug appears o be you


138 posted on 07/28/2011 4:48:03 PM PDT by Munz (All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.)
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To: Dutchboy88
If someone has proof of brutality, then the cops are wrong. Bring on the evidence

prima facie

Someone admitted to hospital in that condition, first priority should be to bring in the last people seen with him for questioning.

139 posted on 07/28/2011 5:20:57 PM PDT by Oztrich Boy (New gets old. Steampunk is always cool)
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To: Munz

I just did a major search for the youtube video I saw this morning of the incident - up close - and I can not find it anywhere. The only one available is one taken from a distance where people describe what is happening and you can hear the poor kid screaming in pain and calling out for his dad. You can’t see the victim or the cops in that one.
That one taken at a distance and is everywhere if you google “Fullerton police beat homeless man to death.”

I wonder if google and youtube removed the one I saw this morning? It showed some of the cops’ faces and the victim but did not go all the way through the torture like the one at a distance did. The cops were yelling “stop resisting” when the kid was on the ground and you could see he was not resisting and the crowd was yelling “He’s not resisting. Let him go. Leave him alone. Stop hurting him.” Then one of the thugs came up with hell in his face and grabbed a witness and threw him violently face down on the pavement. It was horrifying and the one at the distance is not easy to watch either because of the sound recorded.

If find the one I saw in my travels again, I will send you the link. I suspect they pulled it.


140 posted on 07/28/2011 5:36:49 PM PDT by SaraJohnson
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