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UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times Sunday write-up of the protest speaks of anonymous sources who are downplaying the significance of the surveillance tape saying it “shows parts of the police altercation, but key elements are obscured” and that “tree limbs and leaves blocked part of the camera’s view.” The sources forgot to mention another obscuring object, the DA! who refuses to make the tape public!
ORIGINAL ITEM: Hundreds took to the streets once more to decry the brutal killing of a schizophrenic homeless man by members of the Fullerton police department last month. The story was at risk of falling under the radar when local corporate news outlets were hesitant to publish a photo of Kelly Thomas, 37, lying in a hospital bed with purple, swollen eyes, gruesome gashes, inserted tubes, and blood stained medical gauze plugging his nostrils. The depiction, both graphic and disturbing, has since fueled an increased outcry after its publication by Tony Bushala in the Friends for Fullerton’s Future blog. As a result, the corner of Commonwealth and Highland was lined with even more outraged protesters than a week ago demanding justice as cars driving by constantly honked their horns in support for hours on end.
There are videos of the violent incident that occurred in early July when the city’s police officers were investigating an unconfirmed report of someone breaking into cars, happened upon Thomas, and laid siege to him, but so far the only one that has been put out by a local college student is distant. It is not akin to the all the citizen filming that came from the fatal police shooting of Oscar Grant at a BART station in Northern California nearly three years ago. Thomas can be heard painfully crying aloud ‘Dad, Dad, Dad!’ in the video, however, while being bludgeoned and tasered by a ‘Gang of Six’ Fullerton policemen. The man he was desperately calling out for is Ron Thomas, a former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy, who has since said his son’s death was murder and who has been present at the public demonstrations.
Leading into today’s protest, two Fullerton City Council members have demanded the resignation of Chief of Police Michael Sellers — a move the Los Angeles Times editorial page stupidly called “premature” when Sharon Quirk-Silva first took it upon herself to do so. Protestors echoed that popular demand as they are disgusted at the lack of transparency from the onset of the Thomas death. They are also calling on the release of a surveillance video of the beating being reviewed by OC District Attorney Tony Rackauckus. No killer cop has ever been convicted as such in OC with declarations of ‘justified’ actions in the deaths of Julian Alexander and Julian Collender illustrating T-Rack’s record.
Nationally, five New Orleans were recently convicted in fatal post-Katrina shootings, but none of murder. Impunity is virtually built into the system. If the surveillance footage of the Thomas beating never reaches the public eyes, rest assured full justice will not be served. Its best chance lies in its release. Grant’s killer only had a brief stint in prison because his actions were clearly filmed by BART passengers. Will the public’s demand for accountability be heard? Will this time be different somehow, someway? It goes without saying that anytime you have ANSWER LA sign holders together with Oath Keepers on bullhorns denouncing police brutality the dynamic is a unique one. Fullerton police also made the foolish mistake of killing the son of a former law enforcement official.
Is impunity impenetrable? For the sake of justice, accountability and transparency, let’s hope not. A community will have to remain steadfast and vigilant. In the meanwhile, the memory of what happened to Kelly Thomas hangs over the city of Fullerton like a fog that can not even begin to lift until the light of truth is shown.
These guys beat to death the weakest among us.
This protest is fighting the ost powerful among us, the POA (s).
Serious introspection needs to occour by the public, when does protecting workers rights (in this case the publicly employed police officers, dispatchers and classified employees) take precedent over the safety and well being of society.
We have seen (in this case alone) several moves by the FPOA to crush any investigation and or public disclosure.
If the public wants to get to the ugly truth, start looking at the POA’s. Examine thier contracts, thier member roles, thier LAWYERS.
This modern day thuggery.
“If the public wants to get to the ugly truth, start looking at the POA’s. Examine thier contracts, thier member roles, thier LAWYERS.”…….. Hmmmmm
Unfortunately, they are one step ahead of us because they purchased laws from the X-hippie communists like our Gov. Brown, to make all of the above information unavailable to public for any inspection.
The only way we can get some fairness in this otherwise Bolshevistic society is to crash all public sector unions. [Emphases Added]
The government employes do not need to be protected by the unions. They have enough powers by the public trust.
Since X-hippies like Nelson never change, nothing will change.
The good news is on the way, however, from AAA to +AA is good move towards hunger and hunger motivates people to change the status quo.
Tune down the inflammatory conspiracy rhetoric and just go to the City of Fullerton website. Click on the Human Resources icon. Then when the ‘labor agreements’ bar pops up, click on that. All the city contracts are there. There is no statewide conspiracy to hide information from the public when it comes to police officer wages.
Wow! That is fantastic info….. It has all the information to figure out the background and emotional state of an individual COPs who can kill you in a heartbeat. It even has information on how many they kill and ruffed up. I see even how much alcohol they consume including prescription and non prescription drugs and their insider gang affiliation.
We can get all performance info on doctors but not on union COPs.
Thomas can be heard painfully crying aloud ‘Dad, Dad, Dad!’ in the video, however, after being bludgeoned and tasered by a ‘Gang of Six’ Fullerton policemen.
That should be “while” being bludgeoned and tasered, Gabo. After a while he wasn’t making any more sound, and he was still being bludgeoned and tased.
Right. I made the correction. Hey, did you make it to the vigil after all?
Say what?
Six Fullerton Police officers beat Kelly Thomas to death — a homeless white man whose father happens to be an ex-Orange County Sheriff’s deputy?
Uh, oh. These cops haven’t been trained properly. Don’t they understand deadly force is to only be used on darker-skinned folk — you know, Mexicans?
Cops are never supposed to kill a white man. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen here in Orange County, hotbed of Minuteman and Tea Party activity.
My guess is that about half of the white people who showed up at today’s anti-police brutality demo wouldn’t have bothered to if Thomas’ skin had been brown.
In fact, they would probably have originally sided with Fullerton Police saying the victim was a vagrant who deserved every blow he got.
Could be, Duane. You may be right.
On the other hand, maybe next time it happens to a dark person, they might say to themselves, hey this was wrong when it happened to Kelly, it’s wrong now too. Whatever it takes to wake them up.
Vern Nelson wrote:
> Could be, Duane. You may be right.
Those Fullerton Police officers killed a homeless white man whose father not only was an ex-Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy, but had ties to people with political and economic power.
It is glaringly obvious to me that race and class have played an important–if not pivotal role–in influencing how the public has reacted to Thomas’ death at the hands of cops.
The reason why the Orange County Register and other media didn’t initially cover this story is because they thought Thomas was just another dead vagrant. He wasn’t important.
As you know, cops beat up and kill people all the time in Orange County. But most of their victims are darker-skinned, working-class males who have no ties to powerful people.
> On the other hand, maybe next time it happens to a dark person, they
> might say to themselves, hey this was wrong when it happened to Kelly,
> it’s wrong now too. Whatever it takes to wake them up.
Oh, this incident undoubtedly will wake up some people. It may even lead to further political radicalization. But the big question here, of course, is what form and direction will that take?
So far, I see mostly right-wing Tea Party-types running with the ball on this matter and using police brutality to quietly advance their own reactionary agenda for Fullerton.
To be quite frank with you, I’m of the opinion the only reason why they are criticizing Fullerton Police is because they have a pathological hatred of public employee unions.
They’re just milking the Thomas beating for what it is worth until they recall the current trio of clowns on the Fullerton City Council and replace them with their own buffoons.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of police unions. And I personally don’t consider cops as part of the working-class. Their job is to defend the interests of rich people.
But I’m just intrigued with how right-wing Tea Party-types are using police brutality to quietly push what in essence is a “turn-Fullerton-into-Costa Mesa” agenda.
Nice to hear from an old-fashioned class warrior.
It’s true I’ve come to hold public employee unions in low esteem. They have raided our resources and have re-made civil service into a job that pampers the bureaucrats with lavish pay, great benefits, early retirement (55, WTF?) and fabulous pensions.
However the Thomas killing and now the recall is not about hating public unions. it’s about having an out of control and corrupt police force that is policed by nobody. Theft, drug addiction, fraud, sexual battery, homicide are the recent revelations. We have even more we haven’t written up yet. All of this is due to the negligence of the elected officials. Recall is a political action to what is essentially a leadership failure.
I do want to get rid of the clowns. Frankly I don’t care much who gets elected in a recall. Hell, we could even get an old flaming socialist like you. And I’d be fine with that. Once we get the signatures anybody can sign up to run and anybody would be better than the Three Blind Mice.
I liked how, in the successful Capo USD Recall last year against a cabal of corrupt, wasteful, anti-education Republican extremists, the recallers put up a very balanced slate of two progressive Democrats, two honest Republicans, and a young independent. That was smart, and worked.
I suggested, for your candidates (if they’re interested or still interested as they have been) Jesse LaTour, Jane Rands and Karen Haluza. One of your buddies who calls himself “Hollis Dugan” told me “Nope, two of those are public employees so no go!” Of course that’s just Hollis. I think those three would be night and day over the three blind mice, although you probably know of some others who may be interested. Hollis should remember that public employee / teacher Sharon Quirk-Silva is one of the two councilmembers to do the right thing, and (I think) the first to call on Chief Sellers to resign.
And, wherever you stand on the West Coyote Hills development, you should allow that to become intertwined with this recall. I work Sunday mornings at a very conservative (well, not INSANE conservative but mostly Republican) Methodist church; and they are all gung-ho about “saving West Coyote Hills,” with a signature table out front every Sunday. These three blind mice who cover for the murderous cops are also yes men to Chevron. Let those two issues blur and we’ll recall the hell out of ’em.
Tony Bushala wrote:
> It’s true I’ve come to hold public employee
> unions in low esteem. They have raided our resources
> and have re-made civil service into a job that pampers
> the bureaucrats with lavish pay, great benefits,
> early retirement (55, WTF?) and fabulous pensions.
Don’t get me wrong, but I think there are many perfectly valid reasons to criticize public employee unions. One of my biggest complaints I have with them is that they’ve been too myopic and self-centered.
Instead of just feathering their own nests, they be should be out in the streets demanding “lavish pay, great benefits, early retirement … and fabulous pensions” for all working people.
All of this I think should be paid for by drastically hiking taxes on the wealthy–especially real estate speculators who own pieces of commercial property near railroad tracks. 🙂 🙂
As for cop unions, I’m no fan of them. But the reason why police have historically gotten more money than other public sector workers is to ensure they remain obedient and loyal to the rich people in power.
They aren’t, as you would put it, “well-paid union thugs,” but “well-paid armed thugs” hired by the state for the purpose of protecting private property and keeping the “have-nots” away from it.
I agree with what Ron Thomas said about Fullerton Police the other day when he commented his son was killed to send a message to homeless people to just stay away from the downtown area.
Yup. That’s their job, alright. The men in blue are the guardians of the “free enterprise system.” They help the rich get even more rich, protecting them from all us malcontents who’ll just mess things up!
But despite all your whining about the public sector, you wouldn’t be well-to-do without it. Practically every major employer in Fullerton is linked to the state or is subsidized by the state.
The government, both directly and indirectly, pours hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds into Fullertonians pockets yearly. Your city would be a ghost town if it wasn’t for the “nanny state.”
Even your friend State Assemblyman Chris Norby wouldn’t have been able to live a good life if it wasn’t for the fact he spent many years being paid union wages as a teacher in a public high school.
> However the Thomas killing and now the recall is not
> about hating public unions. it’s about having an out of control
> and corrupt police force that is policed by nobody. Theft,
> drug addiction, fraud, sexual battery, homicide are
> the recent revelations. We have even more we haven’t
> written up yet. All of this is due to the negligence of
> the elected officials. Recall is a political action to
> what is essentially a leadership failure.
Oh, I don’t have any reason to doubt what you say.
But I’m rather curious why you don’t apply the same standards to people like your good buddy Bill Hunt, who, while running for Orange County Sheriff, publicly stated he considered Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to be his mentor.
Did you personally ask Hunt about why he would even dare associate his good name with such a corrupt, incompetent and racist law enforcement figure like Mr. Arpaio when you held a fundraiser for him at your home along with Mr. Norby in 2010?
See the following link:
http://gregsebourn.blogspot.com/2010/05/bill-hunt-comes-to-fullerton.html
You did know it was well-documented at the time that numerous lawsuits filed against Sheriff Arpaio over repeated beatings and deaths of inmates in jails under his supervision had cost Maricopa County taxpayers well over $40 million?
In addition, violent crime was rising all over Maricopa County because Arpaio’s deputies were wasting thousands of hours of police time conducting sweeps of Mexican neighborhoods to arrest illegal immigrants” for minor offenses.
At least, that’s what right-wing libertarians at Arizona’s Goldwater institute claimed:
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/Common/Img/Mission%20Unaccomplished.pdf
Leadership failure, perhaps? And this is the kind of “leader” that Mr. Hunt had aspirations of becoming? Even inviting Arpaio to come all the way from Arizona to do a couple of fundraisers for his bid for the O.C. Sheriff’s job?
Now had Hunt become Sheriff, I’m sure your other friend–Supervisor Shawn Nelson–would have written letters to the FBI demanding a full-blown civil rights investigation every time some Mexican was killed by his deputies the same way Fullerton Police killed Thomas, right?
I do hope Nelson’s motivation for doing so in Thomas’ case isn’t because he’s still incredibly pissed that public employee unions spent about a million in cash in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat him in the Board of Supervisor’s race last year, is it?
By the way, is Mr. Nelson is still your neighbor? Or has he moved into better accomodations now he has a cushy job being paid a six-figure salary by a “nanny state” he thinks we should eliminate for everybody else but him and his campaign contributors? 🙂 🙂
> I do want to get rid of the clowns. Frankly I don’t care
> much who gets elected in a recall. Hell, we could even get
> an old flaming socialist like you. And I’d be fine with
> that. Once we get the signatures anybody can sign up to
> run and anybody would be better than the Three Blind Mice.
You’re an astute enough businessman to realize you have to play all sides sometimes. I do hope that $1,000 contribution the “Bushala Brothers” made to Sharon Quirk-Silva’s campaign for Fullerton City Council in 2008 has produced the desired results? 🙂 🙂
Anyways, there is nothing wrong with getting rid of clowns. I’m all for it. But I’ve been around long enough to see that clowns usually end up being replaced by buffoons–and vice versa. Politics seems to be a never-ending three-ring circus here in Orange County.
And I do want to thank you for correctly labeling me as an “old flaming socialist,” a term I don’t find offensive, incidentally. If you really want to make my blood boil, call me a “Democratic Party liberal.” That’ll make me spout off like a steam kettle! 🙂 🙂
Duane —
Of course, I’ve considered many of your points coming into yesterday’s protest. It’s atypical to have Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and Jon and Ken on the same side of any issue. If a segment of the population would not have bothered turning out against police brutality had the victim been a person of color, that’s on them, not me.
If there is a political aspiration to launch a wider Costa Mesa-style agenda against public union employees beyond police cynically using the death of Kelly Thomas as a catalyst, that’s too much of a leap (I hope) to *not* be seen as disgraceful. Vern’s right, too. Petty politics should remember Quirk-Silva’s stances in response to this issue. I’m not a Democrat, but I applaud her — unlike the LA Times editorial page.
The things that should be of critical focus is that of full justice for Thomas and puncturing the virtual impunity for fatal police brutality cases with a new legal precedent. Has race/class/political connections played into the dynamic? Of course. Is it enough to produce a different outcome this time? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t shock me if the answer, in the end, turns out to be no.
Gabriel San Ramon wrote:
> If there is a political aspiration to launch a
> wider Costa Mesa-style agenda against public union
> employees beyond police cynically using the death
> of Kelly Thomas as a catalyst, that’s too much of
> a leap (I hope) to *not* be seen as disgraceful.
There is ample prima facie evidence suggesting right-wingers are whipping up anger over the Kelly Thomas death with the intent of recalling a trio of clowns on the Fullerton City Council and replacing them with their own buffoons.
All you have to do is peruse right-wing blogs like the “Friends For Fullerton’s Future,” “Red County,” and elsewhere to see numerous messages being posted which literally scapegoat public employee unions for Thomas’ death.
For example, Cynthia Ward, a right-wing Anaheim community activist and regular blogger on “Red County,” posted the following comment in response to an announcement that an effort is being made to recall three Fullerton City Councilmen:
“Here in Orange County, the GOP says that you can’t take union money and be the Republican candidate. Then they allow their candidates to take the union ENDORSEMENTS, with the big fat Independent Expenditures that come with those endorsements. Look over your own elections for whatever town you may be from. When was the last time seats were NOT won by public employee union backed candidates? Now how many of them are also the GOP candidates? Our elected leaders no longer fear or respect the average voter, because they are beholden to the unions for their elections. Sadly, it is the VOTERS who continue to elect anyone backed by a mailer filled with photos of a candidate with cops and firefighters. It has become a sick system, where sheep blindly elect those who now owe the public employees unions, and we end up paying for that allegiance, in higher pensions and pay, and Kelly Thomas appears to have paid for that allegiance with his life. The 3 Fullerton Council members elected by Fullerton Police unions will NEVER call for transparency, they understand who owns them. And those cops who beat Kelly Thomas to death knew they would not be held accountable. Time for a clean sweep in Fullerton, and hoping it will send a message to other cities to quit handing our politicians over to be owned by those they are supposed to be watching!”
See:
http://www.redcounty.com/content/fullerton-councilmembers-bankhead-jones-and-mckinley-face-recall
In addition, start looking at publicly available campaign finance records of Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker, O.C. Supervisor Shawn Nelson, and others; look at their relationships and track records. These people care about police brutality? Yea, right.
I believe Nelson endorsed Bill Hunt–who called Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio to be his mentor. Now if Hunt had become O.C. Sheriff, do you think Nelson would have called the feds if his deputies killed a Mexican the same way Thomas died at the hands of Fullerton Police?
Do you suppose Nelson’s letter calling for an FBI investigation of the Fullerton Police has more to do with the fact public employee unions–specifically those linked to law enforcement–spent about one million dollars to unsuccessfully defeat him when he ran for his seat?
Like I said, I’m not a fan of police unions. You, among all people, know about my past history of being a staunch defender of civil liberties and a vociferous critic of police brutality and abuse especially against working people–specifically darker-skinned folk.
Maybe I’m too cynical, but I’m not convinced the actions taken by Whitaker, Nelson, and others are all that sincere. In my opinion, other agendas being pushed here. If a recall happens, I hope Fullertonians don’t merely replace one gang of thieves with another.
> Vern’s right, too. Petty politics should remember
> Quirk-Silva’s stances in response to this issue. I’m not
> a Democrat, but I applaud her — unlike the LA Times
> editorial page.
Like the wimp she is, Mrs. Quirk-Silva basically waited until it was politically safe for her to come out and publicly criticize Fullerton Police. I’m not at all impressed with her response. But then I’m biased: I think all Democratic politicians suck anyways.
But the reality is, what she and Whitaker did is nothing more than political theater. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office is partly correct in that releasing the tape at this time would jeopardize their ability to conduct a full and proper “investigation.”
If the DA were to release the tape, a potential criminal case filed against any or all of the six Fullerton Police officers could be thrown out court by a judge if it was shown the DA was reckless and prejudicial in its handling of important evidence.
There are all kinds of laws at the state level which protect cops. You can fire the chief and recall the city council as many times as you want, but none of that changes the fact these laws are on the books and give police god-like status in our communities.
> The things that should be of critical focus is that of full
> justice for Thomas and puncturing the virtual impunity for
> fatal police brutality cases with a new legal precedent.
As I alluded to in my response to the Vern, there is no doubt on my mind the Kelly Thomas death will make people more consciously aware that these sorts of things do happen. And it might lead to further political radicalization.
But the crucial question here is what form or direction will that take? So far, the right-wing Tea Party-types have been dominating the narrative and are milking it for what it is worth. There needs to be more of a progressive response, I think.
Duane —
I didn’t see Ward’s comments and I hardly ever read Red County anymore. It’s revealing, though, highlighting the thoughts of a police brutality critique coming from the right. Out of curiosity, I wonder, being from Anaheim, if she bothered to write anything or be outraged when Julian Alexander was killed years ago. Perhaps someone can find that for me.
As I’ve tried to point out and as you do too, the sense of protection police are truly emboldened by comes more from the legal system itself and the DA’s local streak of ‘justifiable’ actions judgements. You are correct that Chief of Police firings and recalling city clowncilmembers doesn’t address this systemic root of the problem, but neither should they get a free pass.
Be cynical about Nelson. I’m no fan of his nor Hunt. That’s no secret. But the dynamic and all the race/class/connection factors you mention, be them as they may, could potentially produce a new legal precedent. Or maybe not. You know I share your understanding of the role of the police in society. Hell, pinkerton company thugs who regularly brutalized union workers back in the day were the forerunners of the FBI which is now investigating police brutality in Fullerton! Perhaps you’re right about the release of the tape, but I understand the public sentiment especially when lies were abound concerning an altercation and officers’ broken bones, etc.
Unfortunately the tape in question is a surveillance one. Had it been a citizen filming, then we would be in Oscar Grant territory, but as that case went on to show, even that wasn’t enough to bring about a murder charge/conviction.
Gabriel San Ramon wrote:
> As I’ve tried to point out and as you do too, the sense of
> protection police are truly emboldened by comes more
> from the legal system itself and the DA’s local streak of
> ‘justifiable’ actions judgements. You are correct that Chief
> of Police firings and recalling city clowncilmembers doesn’t
> address this systemic root of the problem, but neither should
> they get a free pass.
You’re absolutely right.
I’ve noticed if a City Council has a callous indifference as to what their police officers are doing out on the streets, the cops feel pretty much empowered to do any damn thing they want.
In some circumstances, the people in power tacitly approve of the extralegal activities their police engage in because it achieves certain desired outcomes they strongly favor.
For example, if the Council wants to keep homeless people out of a business district, the Police Chief will instruct his officers to be aggressive in enforcing anti-loitering laws in that part of town.
The level of repression officers use to make these homeless people stay away is determined not only by the institutional culture of the force, but the “tone” set by Council and the Chief.
If cops believe nobody will sanction them for violating rules that impose constraints on the violence they use to achieve certain goals, they’ll go ahead and break them especially if it enables them to cut corners.
Understand it is much easier for an officer to hit a homeless man in the stomach with a baton to get him to relocate elsewhere than to spend twenty minutes writing him up on loitering citation.
What happened to Kelly Thomas is a product of an institutional culture that emerged in Fullerton Police over years of lax enforcement of rules regulating the behavior and conduct of their officers.
As long as the cops dutifully performed what tasks that were expected of them, the people in power didn’t care about how they went about doing it; what’s important is they did it. The end justified the means.
What’s interesting is when cops are sometimes caught doing something incredibly bad, a Council and Chief are quick to scapegoat a “few bad apples” on the force.
But what they neglect to mention, however, is that in many instances, those “few bad apples” did what they did because that’s what the people in power wanted them to do!
A final point I wanted to make is that the level of repression that police use to perform their duties is also dependent on the political and economic power of the various social classes to resist it.
For example, if a community is composed of upper middle class snobs who don’t give a damn their police use extralegal means to force homeless people out of given area, such behavior will continue.
But if people in the community–including members of the upper middle classes–make a big fuss over reports that officers are abusing homeless people, the cops may begin to change their tactics.
In addition, it is possible the homeless people themselves may grow weary of constantly being mistreated at the hands of the police and begin to organize collective means of resisting it.
And if the cops use incredibly heavy-handed tactics in their dealings with the “subordinate classes,” it is not inconceivable the latter may respond to it by rioting–as is what is happening in England.
That would be a good article to see about now, Duane (or Gabriel)
A compilation of other less-well-known murders by OC cops in, maybe, the last decade or so.
Vern @ 7:36.
Obviously who I would support would depend on who was running. It would also depend on how they behaved during the whole ugly Thomas incident. I haven’t heard a peep out of Haluza; Doug Chaffee has has been MIA just like the rest of Fullerton liberal clique. I did see Jane Rands at one of the events at City Hall.
This thing is really going to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Ultimately a recall could be coordinated and scheduled with a Coyote Hills plebiscite – that would save some money on an election. Several of all my FFFF crew support development so that would be interesting!
ok, Jesse, Jane, and a (non-racist) Teabagger to be named later – that’d be a balanced council!
I do not know these people but bet they are democrats, pro union, bolsheviks.
Not independent thinkers, constitutionalists and sovereign citizens.
Of course you don’t, you don’t follow Fullerton as closely as I do. It’s one of my top five honorary OC hometowns.
Now I know them……. “Crow sits next to Crow“
That is what we Bohemians referring to as: “Stepping from mud into puddle“.
And always censure the wisdom…… stupid bolshevik.
Having a bad day, Stanley?
Yes!
Every time you start fucking around with my sovereignty.
SEE NEW PARODY.
Nope, not me.
Fullerton, home of the modern day lynching.
Why don’t those protester’s take home their very own pet homeless person? There are plenty to go around.
It is amassing how much you have in common with socialist Adolf Hitler… Cook.
He too start cleaning up Germany with help of police power!
The Socialism and Unions = tyranny.
Lynching, eh? And in your mind it’s the cops who are being lynched. You are one twisted dude, Robin Cook. Hey, I thought you were some kind of homeless activist in SA?
Cook,
Your post reminds me of another I read on the FFFF, where the poster talks about how this is just like “40 years ago” in Germany, an attempt to link this behavior to NAZI’S. The poor kid over there was thirty years off, and you are way off in using the “lynching” anology.
While the homeless problem in America (and especially in antiseptic parts of OC) is bothersome, it bears NO RELATION to the race relations of the past fifty years. To equate them equally is a disservice to the civil rights movement that helped shape modern America and is really an insult to a dead man who needed our help, not batons and tasers.
I won’t take one home, because thats not sensible nor realistic, but i will continue to make certain the weakest among us have what I can offer, however meager that offering.
I remember most of your posts being respectful and genuine, this one sounds like a bitter old man who has lost touch, a man with no humility or understanding of what it means to be meek.
Currently it is the “cops” who are being lynched in effigy. No trial, no judge, no jury.
That homeless man was a human being like the rest of us, he had the right to make his personal choices.
And it was his personal choices that lead to his death.
Some time in the future, a judge and jury will make a determination (Or the FBI) weather the Fullerton cops where responsible, in part or whole, for his death.
Until then, all this banter on blaming cops or homeless people for societies ills has little to no value.
And if you want to really help the homeless, push for a public restrooms / showers / clothing exchange. That would be the single most important improvement for that segment of society.
Your last paragraph is valuable. “If you want to really help the homeless, push for a public restrooms / showers / clothing exchange. That would be the single most important improvement for that segment of society.” We should do that with money that comes from whatever settlement the FPD has to pay. Maybe such “Kelly Thomas stations” can be set up in more than one city.
The rest of what you’ve written is offensive. These cops are not being “lynched” by anybody. They are off free, alive and healthy, and getting paid. And to suggest that Kelly choosing to be schizophrenic, homeless, or looking for cigarette butts in the parking lot of the train station, makes him even partially responsible for what happened to him, is WAY over the line. Just stop.
Aw, poor cops.
Crawl back in your hole. If the conversation has no value to you turn off the volume. Nobody’s making you listen.
Cook wrote:
“And it was his personal choices that lead to his death.”
Are you fucking kidding me???
The guy was mentally ill.
Thats the same as having cancer. I guess that the ladies who died of cancer from working in the factories making weapons for the US Military deserved to scumb to mesothiloma and rot to death from the inside out…..by your logic, no one MADE them work there.
Cook is gettin to be crazier than Fiala and meaner than Michelle Quinn. What a shame.
Ken, would you rather have the mentally ill incarcerated in mental hospitals?
No crime, no rights, no freedom? Incarcerate them for “our” piece of mind.
How do you force a mentally ill person into taking drugs if they do not take them on their own if they are not in a hospital?
It hasn’t been that long ago that the mentally ill were kept in hospitals, then some people complained about the rights of the sick and they should be freed, so now those ex hospital patients are now part of the homeless population. What is the right choice?
Duane you know nothing about me. But I know all about you. I didn’t call you those things to insult you, just describe you.
If you can’t get on the right side of the Kelly Thomas murder then just shut up and get out of the way. And keep your smiley faces to yourself. That’s what I’m used to from Fullerton’s liberal hypocrites.
Tony Bushala wrote:
> Duane you know nothing about me. But I know all about you. I didn’t
> call you those things to insult you, just describe you.
Well, Tony, I’m not the slightest bit insulted by anything you or anybody writes about me. As for knowing who I am, just Google my name on the internet. You can find out all kinds of juicy info about me, for what it is worth. Probably not much. But you never know.
> If you can’t get on the right side of the Kelly Thomas murder then just
> shut up and get out of the way. And keep your smiley faces to yourself.
> That’s what I’m used to from Fullerton’s liberal hypocrites.
I think the real problem here is you don’t really like it when people scrutinize your actions. You like to dish it out on others, but can’t take it when people like myself can see right through you. Unlike most, I can connect the dots very, very well.
Sorry bub, but you have a big financial stake in the outcome of elections held in the Fullerton area. You can say all you want about being an advocate for “good government,” but it is my opinion you have another agenda. If I’m wrong, I stand corrected. I can accept that.
But at least I have the guts to talk to you openly in my own name about my concerns instead of hiding behind a pseudonym to do it, like some cowards would. And as I suspected, you avoided answering critical questions–which is something I anticipated.
Anyways, I don’t live in Fullerton. I have no stake in the outcome of an election either way. It is going to be interesting to watch one group of right-wingers battle another group of right-wingers for control over the city. The clowns versus the buffoons? Or is it the other way around?
Get your popcorn out folks ….
You didn’t ask any critical just threw out misdirection of the sort people use who would rather not bother doing anything – just bitch. Honestly I think I’m dealing with a Chamber of Commerce hack.
My home and business is in Fullerton so I am affected by anything that goes on. At this point I believe that anybody would be better than the Three Blind Mice – even somebody from the Green Party.
Bub.
Tony Bushala wrote:
> You didn’t ask any critical just threw out misdirection of the
> sort people use who would rather not bother doing
> anything – just bitch. Honestly I think I’m dealing with a
> Chamber of Commerce hack.
I admit I was a bit flippant.
> My home and business is in Fullerton so I am affected by
> anything that goes on. At this point I believe that anybody
> would be better than the Three Blind Mice – even somebody
> from the Green Party.
O.K. We’ll leave it at that.
Saturday’s protest was a mix of conservatives, leftists and everyday community folks in between (who based on my judgment comprised the majority of the people there) Hopefully, a recall and its results would reflect the plurality of the public sentiment out on the streets.
I’d hate to see political battles between opposites muddle something that mostly everyone — save for repugnant apologists — should be able to get behind: Justice for Kelly Thomas.
Maybe it’s unavoidable, and maybe I’m asking the impossible, but that remains my hope.
My condolences to the Thomas family. I am truly sorry for your lost, for I was almost murdered in the same fashion, under the same color of authority, in the same Orange County just four months prior.
On March 9, 2011 several Police brutally ordered a K-9 to attack an unarmed, California Registered (RN) and Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). The California Highway Patrol in Orange County then attempted to cover up the incident.
Malik King, a reportedly “LVN since the age of nineteen” and California Registered Nurse since twenty three years of age, is said to have initially attempted to steal a car. Later it was found he was the owner of that Mercedes. What ensued next on the part of several officers goes well beyond the bounds of simply trying to subdue their suspect.
The several police officers ordered a police K-9 to attack him while he was still fastened in his seat-belt, tasered multiple times while the K-9 attack continued for over one minute and thirty seconds, then hand cuffed, slammed to the ground, hog tied, beat and kicked in the head until unconscious. He was then taken to jail, accused of multiple felonies, and had to pay $50,000 for bail.
Despite witnesses and the clear brutality of the beating, tasering, and ordered dog attack, California Highway patrol allowed several officers to remain active and attempted a cover-up.
Violations of federal law occur when it can be shown that the force used was willfully “unreasonable” or “excessive”. By signing this petition you agree that “unreasonable” or “excessive force” was used on Malik A. King on March 9, 2011 in California Orange County.
The beating of Mr. King is sickening and disturbing. The police involved in the beating and cover up must be brought to justice. Tell Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas to thoroughly investigate and prosecute the officers involved in the brutality of Malik A. King,LVN,RN.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/196/722/705/