Demand Fullerton Police to Release Video Footage of Kelly Thomas’ Beating

After six Fullerton Police officers beat a mentally ill, homeless man so severely on July 5 that he died from his injuries five days later, outraged residents of the Orange County, Calif., city demanded action—namely that the police chief and officers in question be held responsible. Now, Chief Michael Sellers and the six officers are on leave. But key footage that captured the beating of 37-year-old Kelly Thomas remains under wraps because Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas refuses to release it until an investigation of the beating, likely to take months, is complete.

It’s a move that Fullerton Councilman Bruce Whitaker finds objectionable. “I fully support and urge any efforts which will result in a clear and complete explanation of events which led to the death of Kelly J. Thomas and insist that related evidence, including video and audio recordings be made public,” Whitaker stated.

Whitaker’s far from alone. A Change.org petition demanding that the footage be made public has garnered more than 2,400 signatures. Edward Singh—a resident of La Mirada, Calif., which is near Fullerton—said he launched the petition because the audio he heard of Thomas’ beating left him heartbroken. “I can still to this day hear his voice screaming for his dad while he’s being beaten to death,” Singh said.

The public has rallied around Thomas in death because the homeless man was a familiar face on Fullerton’s streets and a known schizophrenic. Thomas’ mental illness may have led him to allegedly flee from officers when they tried to search his backpack during an investigation of attempted car burglaries at a transit center. The fatal beating ensued. In addition, Thomas was reportedly stunned with an electroshock gun several times.

While the public has organized protests to speak out against the Thomas beating and demand justice, the call to release the video footage has fallen on deaf ears. District Attorney Rackauckas has only stated that the footage he’s seen doesn’t indicate that the officers intentionally tried to kill Thomas. Moreover, when Councilman Whitaker urged for release of the footage, Fullerton Mayor Richard M. Jones stressed that the councilman was only speaking for himself and told a news blog called Fullerton Stories, “It’s just not good to speculate on things until we know all the facts.”

The irony of this, of course, is that withholding the video footage prevents the public from knowing all of the facts.

“By releasing the video people could be made more aware,” Singh said. “The reality is that this (police brutality) happens all too often, and cops get away with a slap on the wrist.”

Don’t let that happen. Demand that the footage of Thomas’ beating be released at once!

Photo Credit: Dave Conner