Yesterday the John and Ken Show spent 4 hours expressing outrage over the Fullerton police beating of Kelly Thomas, the lack of media coverage and the cowardly concealment of evidence by Fullerton officials.
Towards the end of the show a man called in purporting to be friends with a Fullerton police officer. He passed along some new, graphic information on what was supposedly seen on the city’s surveillance camera, which the police are still not releasing to the public. Here it is:
Notable claims:
- One officer supposedly beat Kelly Thomas with the butt of his Taser until blood started coming up all over the officer’s arms and hands.
- Another officer supposedly drop knees Kelly Thomas’ nose and throat with the full force of his body weight multiple times, crushing the victim’s throat.
- This happened while Kelly Thomas was not moving or resisting.
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.
Read more about the Kelly Thomas beating
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
Read more about the Kelly Thomas beating
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.
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.
This weekend one of our Friends caught up with Mayor Dick Jones as he was exiting the library gala. This fellow was one of the folks protesting the police beating of Kelly Thomas a few hundred feet away. Apparently the protesters wanted the Chief, or anybody in authority, really, to make a public statement on the issue.
And so our mayor offered us this elegant excuse for the city’s stonewalling, before shuffling off to his vehicle: “You don’t start talkin’ about things if you’re trying to get the answer.”
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?