This is one of those times when you know something has gone wrong, very wrong and yet you wonder how it is even possible it has happened.
It was July 5th when Kelly Thomas was so brutally beaten by Fullerton Police in Orange County, CA that he was never again to regain concsioucsness. He was also tasered repetaedly by the police who were "restraining" him at the time of his "arrest".
It was reported in the local blogs, I had read about it but it didn't make National News until it was reported on by the Daily Mail.
Caught on tape: Police beat and taser 'gentle' mentally-ill homeless man to death
A shocking video has been released allegedly showing police officers tasering and beating a homeless man to death who they claim was resisting arrest.
Though the video is not clear, eye witnesses say the homeless man - Kelly Thomas, 37 - was unable to put up any resistance and was lying on the ground on his front when the attack took place on July 5.
His screams and cries for his father can be heard amid the tasering noises.
It wasn't until today that Orange County Supervisor Sean Nelson formally requested an investigation by the FBI into this absolutely vile act.
Why it took over three weeks for any meaningful action is merely just one part of the story and that there is only one eyewitness to this act by police is another head scratcher. Mark Turgeon is the only person to come forward to describe what took place and he should be commended for doing so. He describes that Kelley Thomas as not at all resisting arrest, that he was staying down and that at one point he lost consciousness and yet the police kept beating him.
There were literally a couple of dozen people who witnessed the event but many were supposedly too afraid to actually come forward and give their account of what happened (This is what I heard today on KFI, a local talk radio station)
What caused Kelly Thomas's brush with the law? There were reports of a man breaking into cars. Was it Thomas? That isn't even clear from what I've read. But what many do know is he was a familiar face in downtown Fullerton with many people who knew and liked him. He was homeless and he had mental health issues, but many saw him as "harmless" and friendly.
Many members of the Fullerton community described Thomas as a passive, peaceful person.
On the website Fullerton Stories, several people have shared their experiences interacting with Thomas, describing him as 'very quiet and polite', 'gentle and childlike', 'sweet', and 'never a threat'.
The LA Times has the original report here and the Fullerton Police retracted the part where they said Police Officers suffered broken bones. The latest at the LA Times is now more Witnesses are being sought so they can try to piece together what really happened even though there is a home video already out there and another video from a survelience camera that hasn't been released.
Thomas' Father has been pushing for more answers.
After seeing his son's injuries and talking with witnesses, Thomas told the Register his son "was brutally beaten to death."
"When I first walked into the hospital, I looked at what his mother described as my son ... I didn't recognize him," Thomas said. "This is cold-blooded, aggravated murder."
Thomas, citing witnesses, said officers hit his son with the butts of flashlights even after he stopped moving.
The photos are shocking. And listening to Kelly Thomas's sister today on the John and Ken show was heartbreaking. She spoke of how much they wanted to help her brother but because they could not force him to take his medicine, he was left to live on the streets. They could not commit him.
This is a broken system on so many different levels, from a mental health system that has been dismantled and undone for so many years to a culture of brutality and silence in law enforcement that goes beyond just protecting ones own. It is morally reprehensible what happened to Kelly Thomas. To think of the pain, suffering, absolute fear he went through during his beating by the police and that he screamed for his father. It was inhumane and there is absolutely no ethical reason to explain why this had to happen to Kelly or his family.