u know whats funny u keep going on about all these cases kelley thomas is the worst case ive ever read
Kelly Thomas (April 5, 1974 – July 10, 2011) was a homeless man diagnosed with
schizophrenia who lived on the streets of
Fullerton, California. He died after succumbing to injuries he suffered while being attacked by six members of the
Fullerton Police Department, on July 5, 2011,
[2] in what was later described as "one of the worst police beatings in [US] history"
[3].
Incident
The crime scene in the immediate aftermath of the beating
Kelly Thomas, after the attack from the officers of the Fullerton, California Police Department
On July 5, 2011, at about 8:30 PM, officers of the Fullerton Police Department responded to a call from the management of the Slidebar
[20] that someone was vandalizing cars near the
Fullerton Transportation Center. While investigating, they encountered the shirtless and disheveled Thomas and attempted to search him. According to statements given by the officers, Thomas was uncooperative and resisted when they attempted to search him, so backup was called.
[21] "Now you see my fists?" officer Manuel Ramos asked Thomas while slipping on a pair of latex gloves. "Yeah, what about them?" Thomas responded. "They are getting ready to fuck you up," said Ramos, to which Thomas replied, "Start punching, dude". A video of the event surfaced. Thomas can be seen being uncooperative with the officers, but sitting and being non-aggressive. After the officers grab Thomas to arrest him for stolen mail they apparently found, Thomas can be heard repeatedly screaming in pain while officers are heard repeatedly asking him to place his arms behind his back. He audibly responds "Okay, I'm sorry!" and "I'm trying!" while the officers stretch his arm back. The police officers claim that, unable to get Thomas to comply with the requests, they used a
taser on him (up to five times according to a witness statement, and the video footage), and in the video Thomas can be heard screaming for his father.
[21][22] Six officers were involved in subduing Thomas, who was unarmed. Thomas was initially taken to St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton but was transferred immediately to the
UC Irvine Medical Center with severe injuries to his head, face, and neck.
[23] One of the paramedics testified that he was first instructed to attend to a police officer's minor injury and then noticed Thomas lying unconscious in a pool of blood.
[24][25]
Orange County District Attorney
Tony Rackauckas gave a detailed account of the events during a press conference on September 21, 2011. Using digital audio recording devices carried by the officers, surveillance video from a pole camera
[26] at the Fullerton Transportation Center, and other evidence, Rackauckas provided evidence that Thomas did comply with orders from Ramos.
[27] Rackauckas went on to describe how Thomas begged for his life, before being struck repeatedly by the officers. He was admitted to the hospital, slipped into a coma, and his parents removed him from life support five days later on July 10, 2011, without him having regained consciousness.
[28][29][30][31]