My thoughts and prayers with the family of Kelly Thomas!
All of us are part of Kelly’s Thomas’s Extended Family.
About 7 years ago, my son was assaulted without provocation, by a classmate, when he was in high school.
Although my son has never been in trouble, when I first heard that he was in the emergency room and that it was not an accident, I thought what could he possibly have done wrong, because he will hear it from his mom. Being the first one to see my son in the emergency room, his ribs bruised and face swollen and being told that he had been knocked unconscious when he was attacked by surprise, and then that he might lose vision on one, this was heart wrenching.
Kelly’s Video:
Then watching the full video last night, and the unprovoked violent use of force, after about 18 minutes of Kelly Thomas peacefully complying with all requests, and the unnecessary violence that caused Kelly Thomas’s death, it brought me back to that horrible day from about 7 years ago.
Watching that video made me realize that we are all Kelly Thomas’s family, and that we have a responsibility to continue to advocate for those who because of their mental illness cannot properly look after themselves.
For Mr. Ron Thomas, who many of us met at Los Amigos and who shared some of Kelly’s mental illness and the length to which they were attempting to get him help, but unable to because he was an adult, and sharing his son’s last words:
“Mr Thomas, my faith tells me that Kelly Thomas’ Spirit is in a better place, and that Kelly’s words are a rallying cry, and a reminder for all of us to be a Dad or a family member to others like Kelly.”
Others Affected and Helped:
I have helped close family members and friends deal with some of their mental illnesses, such as mental fugues from Bipolar Disorder, where they have been disconnected from reality.
But this was only possible because they were able to received continuous supervised care that stabilized them. For example a young man of about 21 whom I met at a spiritual retreat, and about my daughter’s age, was suffering from extreme case of Bipolar Disorder. A couple of times, when he stopped taking his medications, he would relapse back into being disconnected from reality, and he would be institutionalized because he was progressively getting worse and becoming a threat to himself and possibly others.
Over the course of two years, I visited him three times because of three separate episodes, at the Psychiatric treatment facility in Orange. After several weeks, with medical attention and an attorney assigned to ensure his patient’s rights were respected, and his progress and recovery monitored and presented to a judge, he would be released.
In his last episode he got all of the knives in the house and locked himself in his rooms to defend himself from, who knows what. The cops were were ready to barge in and get him out. Luckily, his dad was able to convince them to stand down because he told them of his prior episodes and because he is a really nice and good natured non-violent guy.
His dad talked my friend into coming out peacefully. I hate to think of the tragedy that could have occurred if the police had not allowed the situation to be defused.
Because of various rigorous treatments, the guidance of organizations like NAMI-OC, and the support of his family and friends, my friend has been stable for several years, is working, is happily married, and the proud father of a beautiful daughter.
My friend was lucky, and a tragedy was averted. But we should not wait for another tragedy . . . there is hope!
LAURA’s LAW:
PLEASE help pass Laura’s Law, in Orange County, which is already allowed by California law, but needs to be approved by each county.
Laura’s Law allows parents or caregivers the authority and ability to demand and provide necessary mental care for their adult loved ones who because of their mental incapacity cannot decide for themselves.
Click here to learn more on Laura’s Law and to sign the online Petition.
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KELLY’s Life Mission:
Perhaps, this was Kelly’s mission to compel us to pass Laura’s Law . . . it is up to us as a community to honor it and make it a reality for all others.
And perhaps in passing Laura’s Law in Orange County, Kelly and his family will have greater justice, and Kelly’s words will change from “Help me Dad” to eventually a message of “Thank you Dad!”
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(714) 605-2544 cell
I certainly agree with Paco that Kelly’s life should not have been taken away from him in such a manner and that to give meaning to his life we should pass Laura’s Law at least here in Orange County and then everywhere.
Laura’s Law? Nah. I nearly wrote a post about Laura’s Law last year because someone smart convinced me that it would have saved Kelly’s life, and that implementing it in this County would be an appropriate response to Kelly’s murder.
But then I just couldn’t get into backing a law that entails detaining and medicating someone against their will. And it would NOT have saved Kelly’s life. Kelly was not a danger to himself or anyone. He liked to occasionally go off his meds, leave his dad’s house, and wander free under the stars looking for cigarette butts, and I’m glad he was free to do that. Nothing he did justified the police reaction.
Also, the Supes turned down Laura’s Law for other reasons which I forget.
@ Vern N:
You say about Kelly Thomas:
“He [LIKED] to occasionally go off his meds, leave his dad’s house, and [WANDER FREE] under the stars looking for cigarette butts, and I’m glad he was [FREE] to do that.
My Response:
1) LIKED. How do you know he actually LIKED to do this?
Perhaps you inserted the word LIKED unintentionally….where the simple statement, “he would occasionally go off his meds” would have worked.
Or perhaps he would go off his medications without intending to, or as the benefit of his meds started wearing off, not fully realizing the danger he might place himself by not following medical compliance.
2) FREEDOM.
Was Kelly Thomas because of his illness, Wandering Free or was he Roaming Aimlessly? (Roaming aimlessly causes them to be homeless, malnourished, exposed to the elements and getting sicker, or at greater risk of being victimized by others)
Could Kelly appreciate the stars in his condition?
Wouldn’t he appreciate them better if his condition was stabilized with medication?
My opinion is that someone who suffers from mental illness and are not getting proper treatment because they cannot make that competent decision for themselves are really SLAVES to their illness.
Vern, I have seen how several people have been helped back to normal when they have been medicated back to health “against their will”, and they are the better for it.
VICTIMS of SEXUAL ASSAULT:
One example: A friend of mine, who is a volunteer with the Human Trafficking Survivors Foundation, where I serve on the executive committee, she has a 20-year daughter that was sexually assaulted as child. This left an unresolved trauma that caused her to both suffer emotionally, abuse drugs and to have a mental illness manifest itself. in her case, sometimes it has taken her about 2-3 months to be stabilized, but she does get stabilized. She wants to be better, and she fears the consequences of descending back into her illness and being robbed of her independence and ability to decide for herself.
Mentally ill people, especially young women run a higher risk of being sexually assaulted, or of being sexually exploited commercially. In the most recent episode where this young lady went off her medications, she was missing for a couple of days, and the mother found her with an unknown man/a stranger. The stranger was manipulating the daughter to not return to her mom. The mom could not force the daughter to come with her, because the daughter is an ADULT. Most likely the stranger was abusing this young lady sexually. Other people intervened and scared the guy off. The situation was so extreme, that my friend was able to get her daughter help, and the daughter is now recovering.
I have seen that the purpose of medicating someone even against their will, has been so that that person is helped to regain control over lives, which they then fully appreciate, and to free them from the enslavement of their illness.
Vern, they turned it down because there was no way to fund it and Prop 63 can’t be used.
To ascribe to Kelly a “Life’s Mission” based on his killing by the FPD is, frankly, appalling. He would be alive today if six cops hadn’t bashed his face in and bounced up and down on his chest until they snuffed the life out of him.
Francisco: your Life’s Mission may be to get Laura’s Law enacted.
It depends on whether you consider “Life Mission” — an imprecise and poetic term, we can probably agree — to be a matter of intent or of cosmic destiny. (You’re probably not big on cosmic destiny, I realize.) Mohamed Bouazizi of Tunisia was simply protesting injustice by a corrupt police officer — a man after your own heart, I’d like to think — when he set himself on fire. He also, however, ignited the Arab Spring leading to the downfall of the governments of most of North Africa. If you want to invoke “destiny,” there’s nothing appalling about saying that, in retrospect, that turned out to be his “Life Mission.” I would not use the term myself, but “appalling” is a strong word.
That other dude set himself on fire.
Kelly’s life was snuffed by the cops. I’m sort of surprised you can’t tell the difference.
The implication of course is that Kelly’s life might have some meaning after all, now that some boohoo mindset is lain over it like a white, starched, doily.
And yes, I find that appalling.
Tony, you dork, I’m not saying that there are no differences between the situations. You’re not that stupid, so don’t play like you are. The question is whether it is objectionable and “appalling” for someone to speak of the effect of one’s death as, in some cosmic sense, his “life’s purpose.” For both men, their deaths — from different causes, if I really have to spell it out for you — had positive effects on the larger society that went well beyond what would have been anticipated. That’s the point of comparison. If you want a better, though much older, analogue to Kelly Thomas, you can try Crispus Attucks.
The implication is not “of course” that Kelly’s life might have had some meaning “after all.” Paco expressed no judgment about the meaning of Kelly’s life before the beating — that’s coming from you.
Since you’re being a jerk again with your “surprised you can’t tell the difference” and your “white, starched doily” and your claims of being “appalled” — let me ask you, Tony: there are a lot of homeless people besides Kelly within a half hour’s drive from you, and a lot of them get pretty appalling treatment. Could you take a moment and give us your sentiments — if that doesn’t sound too “boohoo” — of what meaning you think that their lives have had, and of what you as a person of substantial resources have done about it? I haven’t read your writings on the issue at the time, Tony — did you know Kelly Thomas? Did you ever encounter him, pass him by? Did you ever offer him any assistance? Or did your interest in him arise only post photos?
A lawyer isn’t supposed to ask question to which he or she doesn’t know the answer, but I’m breaking that rule today for you. You think that Paco was insulting Kelly’s memory? Tell us what dignity and meaning you think that Kelly’s life had before the beating, and what dignity you think the lives of countless other homeless in OC have, and what you personally do to honor that dignity and meaning?
I try to give you the benefit of the doubt that you really do care about what you say you care about and that you’re not just trying to leverage a tragedy into union busting and lower taxes and fewer regulations for the wealthy. So I’m sending you a hanging fastball down the middle. You say you’re “appalled” at what Paco said of the dead? How appalled are you at the treatment of the living?
Oh yeah, one more thing: boo hoo.
Does the Thomas family have a position on Laura’s Law?
Laura’s Law, signed into CA law in 2002, allows court-ordered, intensive outpatient treatment for people with severe mental illnesses who refuse medication because the illness impairs their ability to make rational decisions.
What Laura’s law has always done is criminalize mental illness while assisting to assert the stigma of violence already wrongfully associated with it while continuing psychiatry as a for profit company founded in therapeutic nihilism.