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This was broadcast on CNN about an hour ago. Goodrich backed out of an interview with CNN at the last minute. Susan Kang Schroeder nearly broke out into tears as she was describing the contents of the video that our city council refuses to release.
Watch the video on CNN.com
Update: Here is an extended interview with DA spokesperson Susan Kang Schroeder.
For some folks sexual fondling in the backseat of a car may evoke happy memories of teenage hormonal overload and good clean fun. But when you’re handcuffed by a police officer on trumped up charges only to be sexually groped by that cop, things take on a much more sinister character.
Like sexual battery and federal civil rights violations, just for starters.
Here are the stories of two women who claim that Fullerton cop Albert Rincon, aided and abetted by Officer Christopher Wren essentially kidnapped them and sexually assaulted them in 2008 while they were in custody – in the backseat of Rincon’s patrol car, to be precise. Rather than rehash the story, I’ll let you read the complaint filed in federal court. Checkout pages 5 through 12 of 35 for the sordid details.
Three long years later the case is winding its way through the court system toward a November 2011 trial. The case found its way to the federal courtroom of Andrew Guilford, who knows all about pervy cops – having presided over the Michael Carona corruption trial. Check out the Joint Conference Scheduling Report:
Note #1: the City of Fullerton offered the victims $7,500 to settle; and the alleged victims assert that the City knew of Rincon’s prior history of sexual misconduct! I wonder what that history was.
Note #2: The DA never prosecuted the alleged victims for any crimes related to their arrests. Is Rincon a Brady cop?
Note #3: the City’s lawyer, Bruce Praet is the same charming individual who allegedly offered FPD beating-death victim Kelly Thomas’ dad a cash settlement before threatening to drag his mentally ill son’s name through the mud; and that before “all the facts were known,” an admonition the cops seem to think only applies to us citizens and taxpayers – not themselves.
Fullerton, this is your out of control police department; it is enabled and protected by majority of your city council. What the Hell are you going to do about it?
Friends for Fullerton’s Future obtained this video footage from an OCTA bus that pulled into the Fullerton Transportation Center moments after the vicious beating of Kelly Thomas by Fullerton police on July 5th. Listen to what these witnesses have to say:
Our transcription of the recording is here.
This new video is more compelling evidence that excessive force caused the death of Kelly Thomas. First there was the video where the homeless, mentally-ill man’s cries for his father can be heard as he is beaten and Tased:
And then we saw the shocking photo of Kelly Thomas before he died, which has now been widely broadcast on network television and news websites around the world:
But still, the majority of Fullerton’s city council have refused to release the video that clarifies the police actions that lead to the death of Kelly Thomas on that night.
While we stand shocked at the brutality laid bare under their administrative watch, they quietly whisper behind closed doors, delay, obfuscate, make excuses and ignore the cries of the public for answers.
The people of Fullerton deserve to know right now: Are we safe from our own police?
About 28 years ago, I had just finished building a 20 unit luxury apartment complex here in Fullerton. Interest rates were around 22.5% and at 23 years old I had more pressure put on me than most 50-year-olds ever have. After I completed my project I decided to take a vacation.
But it was no ordinary vacation. I decided to go drifting.
I packed a bag and got a ride to the 91 freeway at Beach Blvd. Off I went.
Drifting is a way of life for many who choose to live on the streets. Kelly Thomas was a drifter, even though he had many places that he could stay, he chose to live on the streets. At his funeral, I witnessed his many friends and family that told me he always had a place to stay if he wanted. But he insisted on living outdoors with his own convictions.
I met many drifters during my six month journey around the West Coast, but the one thing I remember enjoying the most was not having any responsibilities and being accountable to no one but myself.
It’s easy for me to relate to Kelly Thomas’ life. I believe he was his own person, and he chose to drift from place to place.
Rest in Peace, Kelly Thomas.
The anonymous caller to yesterday’s KFI’s John and Ken program identified an Fullerton police officer with one eye as physically participating in the July 5th beating death of Kelly Thomas.
As hard as it is to believe, Fullerton does indeed employ a cop with one eye, and has been identified by our commenters as Jay Cicinelli. Cicincelli was a rookie cop in LA when he was shot multiple times in 1996 as described in this 1998 LA Times article.
Apparently in the aftermath of this incident Cicinelli was deemed incapable of meeting physical standards, was placed on permanent disability and separated from duty with the LAPD. Here’s where the story gets interesting, Fullerton-wise. Cicinelli’s career as a law enforcement officer was far from over.
It seems that a high ranking LAPD cop, Michael Hillman took special interest in Cicinelli and eventually he used an old LAPD acquaintance to land Cicinelli a job in Fullerton. That acquaintance? Yep, Chief Pat McKinley, as detailed in this glowing 2009 tribute to Hillman on the OC Sheriff’s website, after Hillman had followed Sandra Hutchens to the OCSD. Here’s the operative sentence by Cicinelli:
“I think he had a lot to do with getting me this job, I know he was good friends with (Fullerton Police) Chief Pat McKinley. How many departments are going to hire an officer with one eye?
The implications of employing and deploying a one-eyed cop on the streets of Fullerton are rather worrisome; the possibility that Cicinelli may have undergone severe trauma that has never been adequately addressed is even worse. Of course this latter issue is speculation; but McKinley’s role in bringing this cop to Fullerton calls into question issues of cronyism, poor judgment, and ultimately, perhaps, responsibility for what happened to Kelly Thomas.
The anonymous informant on the Kelly Thomas beating called back into the John and Ken show on KFI today.
Notable claims made by the informant:
To Fullerton Community Members:
As a member of the Fullerton City Council, and a mother, I am deeply disturbed by this tragic event. I am so sorry that this has happened in the city of Fullerton. I have talked to Mr. Ron Thomas to express my sympathy. I have demanded that all six officers be placed on administrative leave and that we fully investigate this incident.
I have asked for detailed accounts of this event and to see the video and release the video.
As a leader in Fullerton, I know that it is our job to be transparent, accountable, and to serve and protect our citizens.
More than anything, I am committed to finding justice for Kelly Thomas.
As a mother, I can only imagine the sheer pain that the family must be enduring right now. Not only losing a son, but dealing with such a horrifying death.
My thought and prayers are with the Thomas Family and our community at this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Councilmember Sharon Quirk- Silva
Last week Gov. Jerry Brown signed in to law two bills designed to drastically diminish, or at least change redevelopment in California. Assembly Bill x 126 eliminates redevelopment agencies (RDAs) altogether in municipalities across the state on October 1, 2011. It also prohibits RDAs like Fullerton’s from any new beginning any new activities or issuing any more bonds, loaning money, buying more property and number of other things they normally do. Once the RDA disappears, the City of Fullerton would take over all outstanding duties like debt service while the rest of the agency’s revenues are distributed to schools and other things usually underfunded by the diversion of tax monies to RDA districts.
That’s it. No more redevelopment except finish off outstanding projects and pay off the bond debts that make them possible. However, an alternative exists that would allow RDAs to continue. Gov. Brown also signed AB x 127, which would allow redevelopment agencies to continue as long as a significant portion of their property tax revenue is redirected to schools and other local agencies. On Tuesday night the Fullerton City Council is scheduled to decide which of these paths to take with Fullerton’s RDA. And yes, the redevelopment staff are recommending option #2, which would keep the agency they work for alive.
According the agenda item’s report written by the RDA staff Fullerton would have to pay an estimated “$ 6,259,348 million in FY 2011-12 and $ 1,472,788 million in FY 2012-13” to schools and everyone else, but it would still be worth it for the city to keep the RDA in existence. These figures are based on old numbers that don’t $ 29 of bonds issued by the RDA for housing last year, so the an appeal is planned. The recommendation is based on the idea that more money would be available for redevelopment oriented activities if the RDA is kept in existence.
FFFF readers, and anyone paying attention in town, will recall that last March, in anticipation of the Governor’s actions Fullerton’s RDA gave a laundry list of properties and other assets to the City of Fullerton to keep the state from grabbing it and selling it off to the highest bidder. But AB x 126 made this action retroactively illegal, meaning that the city has to give it all back to the RDA so the state can take it and sell it if the RDA is dissolved.
But wait, there’s more. In 2010 the RDA’s Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund still has about $ 35 million to spend, most of it form a 2010 bond offering. At the last council meeting developers lined up to explain why they should each get a piece of it (more on that in the days to come, I promise).
Here’s something creative: a groove for Kelly Thomas.
BNF – 6 Lil Piggies (Justice for Kelly Thomas) feat. Jay Bird by BNF