I am struck by the comparative silence of the knee-jerk pro-police crowd about the irony that none of the six Fullerton cops who were present on the hot night of July 5th (when Kelly Thomas mysteriously slipped into a coma), are willing to talk to the DA to help further the cause of the impartial “investigation” being conducted by the Useless Rackauckas.
It seems hilarious to me that before “rushing to judgment” we are admonished to wait for the mature fruits of this so-called investigation which apparently will be lacking information from all seven of the people most immediately present at the incident. Since number seven won’t be talking anymore at all, this seems to suggest that the investigation will never be competently completed.
So how ’bout it FPD? Let’s get these boys a talkin’ so our hard-working DA can wrap up a thorough investigation and we move ahead.
Besides. If they have done nothing wrong, as many of their defenders claim, they have nothing to fear from our fair and impartial legal system.
Here is an interview with a young man who was at the Transportation Center the night of July 5th, 2011. He was waiting for a bus.
His story has the ring of truth to it, and is interesting because it suggests several interesting facts. First, according to this account an “Hispanic” officer had Kelly seated on a curb and had his baton in his hands during some kind of discussion that lasted several minutes, at least; at which point Kelly got up and ran. He was quickly caught from behind, punched repeatedly and spent the rest of his “altercation” with FPD face down. There was no death-struggle between a superhuman drug-crazed freak and six officers grimly fighting for their lives.
There’s is no doubt from this account that the first two cops had difficulty subduing Thomas – most likely because they couldn’t get both hands cuffed behind his back. As the witness suggests, this could have been because the first officer was on top of Kelly from behind and Kelly’s arm was pinned beneath him. After that it was just a gang mugging.
Dedicated commenter “corrupt” gave me great idea a while ago about applying a sort of Hippocratic Oath to our police here in Fullerton. They already take an oath of some kind which, based on recent events, doesn’t seem to have done much good. Nevertheless, I persevere in my attempt to get our boys in blue to toe the line – before we replace them with boys in green.
Here’s my oath:
1. First, I will do no harm to those I am supposed to protect and serve. This includes perpetrating no credit card fraud, assault or sexual battery, kidnapping, theft, homicide, or encouraging suicide while in custody.
2. I will obey the same laws that apply to people who pay for my salary and pension.
3. I will not make public statements that are intentionally misleading, or that are outright fabrications.
4. I will not accept free food or drink at downtown bars.
5. I will not fabricate evidence, falsify reports or commit perjury in order to prosecute the innocent; I will not cause others to do same.
6. I will not consider being recorded by citizens in the exercise of my job duties a reason to illegally confiscate recording devices; nor will I cause said citizens to be assaulted, arrested, or prosecuted (see 4, above) for exercising their rights as free men and women.
7. I will not knowingly permit any of my fellow officers to violate items 1-6; I will immediately report any such violations to my superiors. Superiors will do likewise – up to the civilian immediately in charge of the Police Department.
If you have anything you’d like to add please feel free to elaborate, as always, in the comments thread.
Yahoo News led off today with the doings in little Fullerton, California, here, related to the stories of police brutality against Veth Mam and of course, Kelly Thomas. Here’s somebody called Mike Ritto, President of the Downtown Business Association, moaning about the hurt put on local retailers:
“They’re telling people, ‘Don’t go to Fullerton.’ Nobody here did anything wrong. Why should the retailers suffer?” said Ritto, speaking of the protesters who have packed public forums and marched outside the police station every Saturday for a month.
Ahem. Nobody here did anything wrong? Why should the retailers suffer? Uh, dunno, Mike. Maybe it’s the bad karma associated with devil’s deal downtown Fullerton has made with an out of control police force.
I can mindread, and yes they thought they had the right man!
Naturally we hear from FPD spokeszit Andrew Goodrich, who, inexplicably, remains spokeszit despite a string of lies and half-truths that would have made a NAZI Ministry of Propaganda functionary’s heart sing:
Goodrich, the police spokesman, said allegations that the officers in the Mam case perjured themselves were false because they believed when they testified that they had arrested the right person.
Oh, really? False charges of perjury? Really, Andy? You really want to go there? Of course the charges are perfectly true; either that or your union pals are so f-ing incompetent that they belong in institutionalized care somewhere. Which is it?
See that guy over there? He didn't do it.
And here is Deputy DA Rebecca Reed, casually explaining that the whole Mam story told by the cops was pluasible:
“I thought it was reasonable that Veth Mam had been involved in this altercation before filming,” she said. “The video did not show the whole story.”
Say what? No, Becky, the laws of time and space were not suddenly suspended by the evil Mam. What she meant to say was: “we are told to go along with the cops story, no matter how ludicrous it might be; we have no compunction about charging and prosecuting an innocent man; we don’t give a damn about justice; my only concern is that this loss is going to hurt my record.”
FPD spokeshole Andrew Goodrich is now peddling bull so fast it has crept up over his hip waders and into his britches.
His latest rasher of shit is the story that cop Kenton Hampton roughed up and mistakenly arrested the wrong guy last October. He and his buddies cooked up a story in their reports and had the DA prosecute Veth Mam for obstruction of justice. Of course the jury saw the same video we posted here and acquitted Mam.
Goodrich’s latest fib is that the cop accidentally nabbed the wrong guy – someone who didn’t jump on a cop’s back. But anybody viewing the video knows that’s just bull. Check it out. You can see Hampton roll up and confront the crowd. Hampton clearly had no knowledge of anything that happened previous to his arrival. He set his eyes on a guy he saw video recording the altercation and hit him in the face, then starts throwing him around like a rag doll.
Goodrich wants us to believe that in the chaos of the moment the brave boys in blue picked on the wrong guy. Well that’s just a bald-face lie.
Now Mam has a lawyer. The same lawyer as the dad of FPD fatal beating victim Kelly Thomas. FPD is looking at assault and false arrest; and Fullerton’s self-insurance fund looks to get even smaller.
For some reason the DA hasn’t prosecuted the FPD liars including an officer named Frank Nguyen, for perjury, but that charge may be coming soon, although the incompetence of DA spokesholetress Susan Schroeder does not inspire confidence. Let’s hope somebody impresses upon our do-nothing DA the importance of being honest on the witness stand. After all, isn’t he telling us we can’t see the Thomas murder video because it might taint witnesses. Hah!
P.S. The DA supposedly had the video in their possession a month before the June/July trial and decided to try this dog of a case, anyway. I don’t know who made this expensive decision, but here’s the roll call of DA personnel who worked on the case at one time or another:
Poor Doc HeeHaw. There’s been so much riled-up lynch-type mob fussin’ a goin’ on that there jes’ ain’t enough grits and Jack Daniels to wash down the bitter bile thass stuck in the ol’ man’s gizzard. This mornin’ we had us some infermation that Fullerton’s Southern fried Mayor was a steppin’ down. Land O’ Goshen!
From KFI’s Steve Gregory, from Ron Thomas who jes’ had a meetin’ with the mayor.
Later on the City’s spokesgal sed it jes t’weren’t so. Should’a figgered that out r’seffs. Heehaw ain’t never done nuthin’ graceful-like.
So is he a comin’ or a goin’?
Our sources tell us that Dr. Jones is soon a headin’ outta town – to San Fransisko so’s he kin git ona croos ship that’ll haul his carcass away from all the feudin’ n’ a fightin’ so’s he kin take a gander at them glassiers and eskimoskeeters.
A few days ago some stooge named David Whiting who writes articles on hiking and wildflowers for the OC Register, made the startling statement that although witnesses claimed Kelly Thomas was beaten with a flashlight, the lawyer for the FPD thugs who did the beating denied that flashlights were used. And that left the door open (in his pea-brain) to defend the idea that we members of the mob must patiently wait for the diligent investigation that will clear up these wild inconsistencies.
Our knucklehead city councilman and former police chief Pat McKinley, for one. He wants us to believe that it was physically impossible for six cops to simultaneously beat Kelly Thomas to death on that hot July 5, 2011 night at the Fullerton Transportation Center. Of course he has reason to want us to believe that since he is the one who hired the six thugs in question, one of whom failed an LAPD physical.
Is that what happened? I have no idea since McKinley, Goodrich & Co. refuse to release the city’s video for fear of “tainting” eyewitness testimony. But check out this sickening video of a guy named Craig Prescott and his seven friendly jailers going to town on him in an 8×8 cell:
I don’t know about you, but I’m getting sick and tired of the jackasses we have in charge of this city. They have become habitual and casual liars and still think they can get away with it.
Unchained Melody…
