Friends For Fullerton's Future
FFFF supports causes that promote intelligent, responsible and accountable government in Fullerton and Orange County
Today Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson sent over this formal request to have the FBI take over the investigation of the police beating death of Kelly Thomas.
As a result, Supervisor Nelson told us that the FBI confirmed that it has launched a formal investigation into the incident.
We may have figured out why it took the District Attorney investigators three weeks to start talking to witnesses on the Kelly Thomas police beating case…
According to this unsigned note that just came in to our website, Chief Sellers is a close personal friend of DA investigator Stan Berry, who was immediately assigned to the high-profile Fullerton case:
I suggest you check into the connection between Investigator Berry and FPD Chief Sellers. Sellers hired Berry when he was the Chief at Seal Beach PD. Sellers and his wife Rita Fraser-Sellers, are close personal friends with Berry and his wife, Kristen Berry, the Dispatch Supervisor in Seal Beach. They socialize together, vacation together and entertain each other in their respective homes.
Of all the DA investigators, why choose Berry, other than he will help cover for his friend.
Presumably that case assignment was a decision made by the DA Tony Rackauckas. I have confirmed that Berry worked as an investigator under Chief Sellers for the Seal Beach Police Department.
As for as the familial socializing, entertaining and vacationing together…maybe the Chief can clear that one up for us.
If our informant is correct, this would be a huge conflict of interest in a very high-profile investigation.
Here is the video that the Thomas family released to the media yesterday. We’ve added some captions to clarify the audio, which may be difficult to hear without headphones.
It is not immediately apparent what the police are doing in the video, but it is clear that Thomas was already on the ground and that the officers were top of him when the video starts.
The audio consists of commentary from distraught onlookers while Kelly Thomas is screaming in pain and then crying out “Dad! Dad! Dad!” before the video ends.
Email the City Council and demand justice NOW! Council@ci.fullerton.ca.us
This is what happens when a city loses control of its police force.
Kelly Thomas did not deserve to die this way. Nobody does.
Clearly there is a systemic problem within the FPD culture which permits, condones or even encourages police officer violence against residents of Fullerton.
This must end now.
Email the City Council and demand justice NOW! Council@ci.fullerton.ca.us
Now we’re getting some traction. The story of a homeless man beaten to death by the Fullerton police seems to be attracting some significant attention outside of our own little town.
The infamous Gawker (7 million monthly readers)
Police Beat ‘Gentle’ Homeless, Mentally Ill Man to Death
Across the pond in the Daily Mail (72 million monthly readers)
Caught on tape: Police beat and taser ‘gentle’ mentally-ill homeless man to death
Philip DeFranco Show (one million daily viewers)
July 27, 2011 Show
Huffington Post
Police Beat Homeless Fullerton Man Kelly Thomas To Death
I’ll keep this post up to date as coverage expands.
This image was included in a story at Fullerton Stories here and purports to be a 2009 police booking photo of recent Fullerton homicide victim Kelly Thomas that was, presumably, provided by the ever helpful FPD spokehole Andrew Goodrich. Well, this is certainly a scary looking dude: pretty buff and mangy, and sufficiently angry-looking to scare the good folks of Fullerton right back into complacency about the homicide of a mentally-ill homeless man.
The only trouble is that it isn’t Kelly Thomas at all. His parents say this isn’t their son. But we don’t need their expert opinion. Apart from a large nose that is completely different from every other picture of Thomas, Kelly’s hair was flaming red, a simple fact illustrated in every other picture of him in the Fullerton Stories piece.
So what gives? Is this just a cheapjack trick by Goodrich & Co. to degrade the victim by presenting Kelly Thomas as a surly, muscular threat to Fullerton’s delicate residents? If so, the Fullerton Police Department has actually hit a new low, and given recent events that’s pretty goddam hard for them to do. But it’s just when you think you’ve hit the FPD basement you find out there are even lower levels.
I will await a comical explanation from the Good Sergeant Goodrich, but of course I won’t be holding my breath.
In response to a public records request, the FPD’s Professional Standards Bureau just told us:
Officer “H” was placed on administrative leave on July 8th, 2011. As of the last pay period ending July 22nd, the total salary for officer “H” is $3015.36
Officer “I” was placed on administrative leave on July 10th, 2011. As of the last pay period ending July 22nd, the total salary for officer “I” is $2871.76.
So now the big question is…were these officers involved in the Kelly Thomas beating?
We’re not allowed to know the answer to that. But we do know that one of those leaves began three days after the event, and the other went into effect on the Sunday that Kelly Thomas was removed from life support.
For the record, these were the 8th and 9th Fullerton police officers to be put on paid leave pending an internal investigation in the past three years. Those nine officers earned a total of $227,595.92 for not working.
I’ve just heard from Mark Turgeon, an eye witness in the Kelly Thomas police beating death that he has NOT been contacted by the Orange County District Attorney’s office. You may remember that the District Attorney is supposed to be investigating the horrific incident.
Since the event happened almost three weeks ago, this is rather disturbing. This individual was immediately questioned by Fullerton police so there is no reason that the DA doesn’t have the ability to follow up with a crucial witness.
You may remember that the Coroner has already said that the cause of death is uncertain.
So what gives?
FFFF Friend Andy Anderson has organized a second protest that’s scheduled for tomorrow morning at 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on the corner of Highland and Commonwealth in Fullerton.
If you can, bring a poster board and make a sign on site. This is your opportunity to send your own personal message to the FPD letting them know what you think of the brutal killing of a local homeless man named Kelly Thomas.
There is a Facebook page to help organize the event.
The Fullertonian is reporting that the officers who got into a “scuffle” with Kelly Thomas did NOT suffer from broken bones, as erroneously reported in news broadcasts.
So where did this lie come from? Well, we know that FPD spokesman Andrew Goodrich fed that line to Matt Coker of the OCWeekly, as indicated in his July 7th article on the incident. So it’s safe to assume that Goodrich squeaked that one to the rest of the media outlets as well.
Of course Goodrich let the lie float around for two weeks while he ran damage control for the invisible chief.