CA - Two Fullerton PD officers accused of beating Kelly Thomas to death

[mister happy]

According to reports, they're calling out the SWAT team and there will be a large police presence nearby. That tells me perhaps there will be no charges forthcoming on the officers, or only minor ones.

Hmmm.. I'm thinking maybe manslaughter at the most on one or two of the cops. Of course, I'm often wrong about stuff. Wonder if the surveillance video will be released.

 

[sherbetjello]

2nd degree and manslaughter charges are being brought. It's live on CNN and local news as I type. Details, lots of them, of what happened that day.


http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2011/09/21/coroners-report-on-kelly-thomas-death-to-be-released/

The police involved will be arraigned today at 2pm.

 

[fran]

They said on our local news today that someone said they probably wouldn't be happy with the decision, on either side. Looks like they were right, based on the comments in this article.

fran


http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/orange_county&id=8362629

Fullerton officer charged w/ murder for Kelly Thomas death

A Fullerton police officer has been charged with murder in the death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally-ill homeless man who died following a confrontation with police in July.


Officer Manuel Ramos was charged with one felony count of second-degree murder and one felony count of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, Ramos faces 15 years to life in state prison.

Cpl. Jay Cicinelli was charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of using excessive force. If convicted, Cicinelli faces four years in state prison.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Scared and bleeding, Kelly Thomas begged for his life to no avail as Fullerton police officers beat him and Tasered him in a violent confrontation that led to his death, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said at a news conference Wednesday.

Rackauckas gave a painfully detailed narrative of the July 5 events leading up to Thomas' death -– details that he said resulted in second-degree murder and manslaughter charges being filed against two police officers.

Rackauckas said Officer Manuel Ramos put latex gloves on his hands and brandished a fist at Thomas. Then, Rackauckas said, the officer, in a "menacing" manner, threatened Thomas: "These fists are ready to F you up."

Ramos knew Thomas, a homeless schizophrenic man who frequented downtown Fullerton, and Rackauckas said the officer should have realized that he was mentally ill and having difficulty following commands.

"Kelly Thomas appeared to be acting in self-defense, in pain, in a state of panic. His numerous pleas of 'I'm sorry,' 'I can't breathe,' 'help,' 'Dad,' all to no avail," Rackauckas said. "Screams, loud screams, didn't help."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

 

[gitana1]

I was in trial today and got the news while on a break via several, separate text messages. It is much less than I hoped for but much, much more than I ever expected. Cicinelli faces up to four years (too little) but Ramos faces 15 to life. I cried when I heard the news, with relief.

After my trial ended at noon, I picked up my ma and we went to celebrate, Then we went to Kelly's memorial at the train station where he died, to let him know we are one step closer to justice. There we met up with some other, fellow protesters including a couple of wonderful homeless guys who have been passionate about justice for Kelly since day one. I'm proud that they are now my friends.

This has been an incredible, emotional day. Justice for Kelly!!!!!!

Here are the creeps who killed him:

May God have mercy on their souls because I don't think I could.

 

[gitana1]

Ron Thomas, Kelly's dad today after the press conference:

He's feeling satisfied today and I'm so happy for him: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/09/kelly-thomas-father-ron-thomas-bail.html

 

[JBean]

tony Rackaukas is http://www.kfiam640.com/mediaplayer/
live in an interview right now.

 

[JBean]

He is saying that the combination of the pole camera and the officer audio belts pretty much told the entire tale.
It was a good interview and when it is a podcast it is worth a listen.
This is a bittersweet day.

 

[JoeFromLB]

According to reports, the FBI is still investigating all six officers on federal civil rights violations, and it is also possible that more disciplinary action may be taken by the police department against them.

 

[mister happy]

Hmmm.. I'm thinking maybe manslaughter at the most on one or two of the cops. Of course, I'm often wrong about stuff. Wonder if the surveillance video will be released.

I was wrong and I'm overjoyed!
This is a good start. I'm happy for Ron Thomas. At least he's somewhat satisfied now. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So true! If Ron hadn't posted that photo of his son's battered face, the story may have evaporated away. Most likely a token investigation would have been performed, with a BS conclusion such as: "Unfortunately things like this happen."

 

[Trident]

Gitana, I want to thank you very much, you sure put your time where your mouths is, as the old saying goes. You did a wonderful thing protesting and keeping everyone informed. I could take a leaf out of your book and do more for what I believe in.

 

[ohiogirl]

Thank goodness something is finally happening. I still think they need to look into who made the initial call to LE.
Kudos to you, Gitana, for sticking with this.
The DA says they will not plead this out, I hope this is not because he wants them to go to trial and be acquitted. I hope a lot of things.
Best wishes to the Thomas family.
The commenters on the abc article are horrible people and should keep quiet. imo

 

[JBean]

tony Rackaukas is http://www.kfiam640.com/mediaplayer/
live in an interview right now.

Here is the podcast for those that may want to hear this interview from last night:

http://www.kfiam640.com/cc-common/p...lected_podcast=JK0921115P_1316654467_6485.mp3

 

[JoeFromLB]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lan...=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+lanowblog+(L.A.+Now)

Ramos pleads not guilty, on suicide watch.

 

[ohiogirl]

Ramos' attorney already spinning the story.

 

[JoeFromLB]

Ramos' attorney already spinning the story.

Yep. Blaming Kelly Thomas for everything, saying Ramos was just "doing his job" when he beat Thomas to death.

Disgusting.

 

[mister happy]

Ramos makes bail:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/29/justice/california-police-beating/?hpt=ju_c2


According to the KTLA and the FFFF blog, Ramos' fellow police officers did the bail fundraising:
http://www.fullertonsfuture.org/2011/fullerton-cops-bail-out-manny-ramos/

 

[reen]

Why doesn't it surprise me that other officers are supporting this brute even after what he's done? *Sigh!* Some are probably even holding him up as some kind of tough-guy hero even though he beat an unarmed, innocent guy to a bloody pulp. Sick.

 

[mister happy]

Why doesn't it surprise me that other officers are supporting this brute even after what he's done? *Sigh!* Some are probably even holding him up as some kind of tough-guy hero even though he beat an unarmed, innocent guy to a bloody pulp. Sick.

Did you see the skull & crossbones logo on the police (Big City Cops) Facebook page? Not very professional to say the least! The logo also contains the phrase: "Let them hate so long as they fear." Talk about a attitude.

 

[mister happy]

Here's a nice little documentary about how the FFFF blog broke the Kelly Thomas story:

[video=youtube;vlNEUJe4v_s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlNEUJe4v_s[/video]