Video portrays violent death of Kelly Thomas (beaten to death by police)

LA Times ^ | May 8, 2012 | Richard Winton

[heartwood]

On the ground and screaming that he was "sorry," a shirtless Kelly Thomas is shown being hit again and again with fists, a baton and finally the butt of a stun gun by Fullerton police officers in a dramatic video that was shown for the first time Monday in an Orange County courtroom.

The grainy black and white video of Thomas' violent encounter with police outside a bus depot is the centerpiece of the prosecutions' case against two officers accused of escalating a standard police encounter with a homeless man into a fatal beating.

At one point, Thomas — a 37-year-old mentally ill homeless man who was a familiar face in the city's downtown — screams out: "Dad, they are killing me!"

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

“I have to look at this objectively.”

From your comments here I would have to say you might have a problem recognizing ‘objectivity’...

[GGpaX4DumpedTea]

Perhaps you would like to have an encounter with these jack-booted thugs pretending to be cops?

[Yaelle]

Definitely first degree murder. The poor guy. His poor parents. I hope they all get arrested and convicted.

[piytar]

Seriously, can I get some lightning here?

[Bellflower]

I was once had the opportunity to stand up to a police man in Madison Wisconsin who was being very verbally abusive and threatening to a homeless man, who obviously was not all there. He seemed to be trying to provoke him into a physical response. Not too much later it was reported that the same police man was violently beaten up and hurt. Somehow I could believe it.

[antceecee]

Truly yes... lightning!

[count-your-change]

From “Protect and Serve” to “Resistance is Futile”.

[Semper Mark]

I’m as white as rice but this dude is being combative.

Stormfront much?

[PalmettoMason]

Oh looky, another couple of noob JBT loving statists.

Yawn.

[dsc]

“Stormfront much?”

I think he was trying to say that since both he and the deceased are white, race is not an issue in his comments.

[FreedomPoster]

Nice tagline. I wonder if our newbies get it.

[FreedomPoster]

And that's what I get for posting before coffee. I initially read your tagline as "THIS IS NOT A COP CHEERLEADING SITE!!!", which worked quite well in this context.

[GodfearingTexan]

Don’t be a dummy. What rights do we have if the cops take them all, then our life? The whole cop thing is way out of control.

[DemforBush]

For those who’ve not seen the video, youtube has it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU0Imk2Bstg

[DemforBush]

I should mention that, according to a related story (linked at the vid) the sound was taken from police microphones and added to the security camera footage which did not have sound (most security cameras don’t, for a number of reasons).

[monocle]

Have you ever read how some drugs give some takers almost super human strength under such circumstances. Likewise, it is not uncommon in mental wards to require large numbers of nurses or aides to restrain an unruly patient.

[Ken H]

When was this video first released? I don’t remember seeing it before.

[TexasCajun]

1st I've heard of this.

No doubt a white victim of police violence.

The race hustlers aren't interested.

[joe fonebone]

abuse of power pure and simple.... they took a life, they should forfeit their’s....