Fullerton Police not guilty of beating a homeless guy to death on tape

[Correction]

Police not guilty in Kelly Thomas death; DA won't try 3rd officer

Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said prosecutors would not pursue charges against a third Fullerton officer accused in the Thomas case. That officer's trial was pending.
"I don't intend to proceed with another trial when the two officers here were acquitted," he told reporters.
The jury took less than a full day of deliberation to reach the not-guilty verdicts.
Rackauckas told jurors the former officers had abused their authority on the July evening when they confronted Thomas.
Ramos was facing second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges, and Cicinelli was charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force under the color of authority.
The incident, captured on surveillance tape, was shown repeatedly during the trial, but each side drew different conclusions as to what it showed.

The video in question (nsfw, it's really a guy getting beaten to death while he begs for his life and cries for help, with audio)

The only defense the police put up is that Thomas was resisting arrest and that he really didn't die of his injuries, but his drug habit made his heart coincidentally give out after being pummeled into a coma by like 5 cops.

[Xno Kappa]

Disgusting fat fucks, hope they fucking choke on a bag of dicks.

[Mojo]

The verdict isn't that surprising. The guy was resisting until the last moment and I wouldn't call it a beatdown either.

[djzombie]

The verdict isn't that surprising. The guy was resisting until the last moment and I wouldn't call it a beatdown either.

The coroner's office determined that Thomas died of brain damage from lack of oxygen caused by chest compression and other injuries sustained during his struggle with police.

Why is it that police need to use weapons in such a violent manner on unarmed people? If this was a group of three civilians beating a homeless guy to death it would've been a different verdict. Why do the police get a free pass to beat unarmed homeless guys to death? Is the video available? I can't imagine one unarmed homeless guy really being a threat to three armed police officers, my only thought on it is that the video might show something the article doesn't articulate.

[BaneTheBrawler]

first officer could have avoided the whole thing by being slightly less of a dick. dude was cooperating (despite a momentary and obviously accidental lapse), if a little reluctantly, till the officer escalated with that little smack. body language on that cop is fucking aggressive as shit from the get-go. he's itching for a fight. suspect is just scared and nervous and not terribly mindful.

[Nephlite]

Why is it that police need to use weapons in such a violent manner on unarmed people? If this was a group of three civilians beating a homeless guy to death it would've been a different verdict. Why do the police get a free pass to beat unarmed homeless guys to death? Is the video available? I can't imagine one unarmed homeless guy really being a threat to three armed police officers, my only thought on it is that the video might show something the article doesn't articulate.

The up close video's that some of the witnesses took cuts in I believe maybe 10-15 minutes in to the fight (was around 30+ minutes total from contact to arrest) and those were the ones we had seen up till we could see the surveillance video with audio from the cops lapel mikes. It shows them escalating the fight more and more as it drags out and upgrading submission tactics till they basically brain the guy to death. Armed police don't necessarily mean a quick and easy fight. That's why they give police more tools as it would have been easy to get the guy with a quick bullet to the head. Unfortunately, the guy was a schizophrenic, a known habitual user of drugs, and probably out of his gourd when he was approached. He was probably fighting on survival instincts at that point and had no idea what was happening to him.

Seems like to me the dumb ass cops were the ones who escalated the whole thing to begin with. I understand, you have to be jumpy with situations like this. Doesn't mean you treat someone like shit. The first officer keeps giving the guy shit from the start right up to threatening him that he's going to beat his ass. From what I gathered, the guy wasn't an idiot (very well spoken), just a little crazy. And fuck if he wasn't crazy strong. Took 6 of them to pin him, which probably what killed him as they basically jumped on the guy, not to mention going straight out with batons and fists. I mean, they were even discussing letting the guy go before the one officer decided to hit him. If you're not going to take someone in to custody, the best course of action is to de-escalate the situation and make the suspect feel a bit more comfortable so you don't spark a brawl.

I'm sure they probably didn't mean to kill the guy but Jesus. Poor judgement all around. Once it got on the ground, all they could do at that point is escalate because that's where shit gets really bad. If he's such a threat and such a problem, why not cuff him in the beginning? Not sure if anyone here has been in a good fight but most fights only last a few seconds. This lasted 10-15 minutes with multiple people fighting a hard fighting suspect on the ground. They were all probably exhausted and frustrated and what happens once fatigue sets in? You improperly escalate and do stuff like this. They might have been acquitted, but the ensuing civil trial and DoJ review will keep most of them out of the job for a long time.

first officer could have avoided the whole thing by being slightly less of a dick. dude was cooperating (despite a momentary and obviously accidental lapse), if a little reluctantly, till the officer escalated with that little smack. body language on that cop is fucking aggressive as shit from the get-go. he's itching for a fight. suspect is just scared and nervous and not terribly mindful.

Couldn't agree more. Can't tell you how many times I see fellow officers treat people like shit like this. Had to jump in more than a few asses feet first to let them know that shit ain't cool, especially if the guy isn't being an asshole.

[Niiro]

They were probably so insistent to keep him pinned to the ground because not one of them looked like they could chase down an ice cream truck.

[Meresgi]

Comments like these:

I am not a defender of police when they are wrong. In this case the suspect was uncooperative and combative. I learned a long time ago that when you are stopped by the police to be polite and cooperative. Even when I was pulled over for a traffic stop I found the experience to actually end enjoyably because I actually made a new friend discussing our kids in a common sports league. Over two years ago while so many wanted to rush to judgment I calmly urged those people to wait for due process then make their decision. I remember being slammed by a poster on this site called HDCameravideo or some name to that effect who used an inflammatory photo of the face of this homeless guy in the hospital to make his point. Its strange how this person is conspiculously silent now. These two brave officers who lost their jobs due to a lunch mob mentality have been found innocent in a court of law, just as I predicted over two years ago. The Fullerton police department should do the right thing and rehire them with full back pay and benefits. The parents of the man who caused all this pain should step up and apologize for their hurtful allegations that have been proven false in a court of law.

Yeah, and SO many of you show any respect to officers, who have to deal with your BS everyday, and when you've been caught doing something wrong, rather than step-up and take responsibility, instead you act like 2-year olds and can't follow a single direction to save your life. Most people who are complaining here are same ones who don't buy life insurance to protect their family, think that 22" wheels somehow make their cars look 'cool', text in movie theaters and do everything else that's super annoying to the rest of us who are civilized. Get bent!

I heard one of the homeless guy's parent's comment that their son's death has now been in vain because of the innocent verdict. I disagree. If just one young man or woman has learned not to resist a police officer when stopped then that man's death was not in vain.

Stay classy....

SUBMIT TO THE MACHINE

[TummieGaruda]

Supposedly the feds are looking into this to see if his civil rights were violated. Pretty shitty situation overall.

[Moss]

You can hear one of the cops say he bashed his face in with the end of his taser

[Melena]

Comments like these:







Stay classy....

SUBMIT TO THE MACHINE

Not even a case of stay classy and submit to the machine. If your dumb fuck ass is speeding and you get pulled over, then get pissy with the cop cause he pulled you over for being a retard, you deserve to be treated equally like shit and get a nice fat ticket to go along with it. I've been pulled over for quite a few retarded things, including dead headlight, speeding, etc, and the only time I've ever been cited was when I dropped a cig out of my hand while driving, and that's because i'm respectful and friendly when they get to my car, not a raging shit cock.

[Ksandra]

If your dumb fuck ass is speeding and you get pulled over, then get pissy with the cop cause he pulled you over for being a retard, you deserve to be treated equally like shit and get a nice fat ticket to go along with it.

Do you deserve to be beaten to death, too?

[Melena]

I never said that, I was talking about the comments Mersegi posted and how being polite and respectful is just submitting to the machine. No one deserves to die unless s/he pulls a gun on a cop, then yea it's open season on dumbshits. Neph already summed up the situation perfectly so no need to really chime in on that.

[Meresgi]

I never said that, I was talking about the comments Mersegi posted and how being polite and respectful is just submitting to the machine. No one deserves to die unless s/he pulls a gun on a cop, then yea it's open season on dumbshits. Neph already summed up the situation perfectly so no need to really chime in on that.

My "submit to the machine" was directed towards the views in the comments along the lines of "never question the police ever or look into anything they do". I didn't quote all the gems from the article though.

[Abandon]

and people wonder why folks dont like the cops.

[Correction]

and people wonder why folks dont like the cops.

Nineteen Seventy-Four.

[Abandon]

mah nigga

[quannum]

and people wonder why folks dont like the cops.

just stop being mean to the cops, gosh!

[Abandon]

nah bruh, fuk da popo