Kelly Thomas RIP

Dad! Help me Dad! Please Dad! Save me! Dad! Please!

All Kelly Thomas wanted was his dad.  Instead, he was beaten, and ultimately killed, allegedly at the hands of six Fullerton police officers.

On July 5 of this year, Kelly Thomas, a diagnosed schizophrenic and homeless man by choice was subdued by six Fullerton policemen on suspicion of an auto burglary.  According to the LA Times, "Thomas’ father, a retired Orange County sheriff’s deputy, has asserted that officers used excessive force to subdue his son, who was unarmed, slight and of medium height."  Mike Riggs specifies these remarks and states Thomas weighed 135 pounds.

Wait, so you mean to tell me it takes six police officers to subdue an unarmed 135-pound man?  What kind of fitness regiment are these people running over in Fullerton?  Six guys?  Really?

Okay, now on a more important note, why in the world would six officers need to taser a man several times to subdue him? Why would they need to beat him?  Six officers can’t hold a 135-pound man down, handcuff him, and place him in the back of a patrol car?

I guess not.

That, to me, and many others, is reprehensible.

After Thomas was publicly beaten he was placed at UCI Medical Center and put on life support.  "When I first walked into the hospital, I looked at what his mother described as my son ... I didn't recognize him.  This is cold-blooded, aggravated murder," said Thomas' father. 

I empathize with the entire Thomas family and can't even begin to fathom the amount of sadness, frustration, and rancor the entire family must be feeling.  The unfortunate incident has caused an uproar in the normally quiet north Orange County community of Fullerton.  Citizens are outraged; and rightly so.

Now, thanks to these six ruthless officers, police officers everywhere have to answer the skepticism. As with any profession, there are the good and the bad.  But now, officers in Fullerton and throught the country (since this story has received nationwide attention) will be the subjects of hatred and mistrust.

For me, I've always had my doubts and resentment towards police.  They're arrogant, power-hungry, and think their damn badge permits them to do whatever the hell they want.  However, I’m smart enough to realize that despite my own perception, there are good cops out there that serve their community honorably.  However, now, even the good ones are tainted, all thanks to six callous individuals.

And, let's just call a spade a spade.  No matter how you perceive what transpired, there is no way in hell that a self-defense plea is passable.

I'm all for safety and protecting yourself in life-threatening situations, but this incident was by no means life-threatening for any one of those six officers..  This was the "big-bad" seniors picking on the weak freshman who ate lunch by himself on the football bleachers.  This was an unwarranted beating that these men will have some time to think about; that is if they don't get the death penalty.

According to NBC, Thomas' father states, “What I want to see done is the primary guy that was beating my son in the back of the head with a taser, because this was indeed a hate crime.  I want him to get the death penalty and I’ll pull the switch.”

I don't know if the death penalty is the appropriate solution to this matter.  With that being said, I wouldn't want to be one of those six officers and run into Mr. Thomas.  Otherwise, like he said, he'd pull the switch himself.

My best regards go out to Thomas' family and friends.  May Kelly rest in peace.