Maybe you weren’t born yet, were too young, or simply never heard about what happened to 37-year-old Kelly Thomas. On July 5, 2011, Kelly was brutally beaten, tased, and suffocated by six Fullerton police officers at the Fullerton Transportation Center near Bus Dock 1 until his brain death. It’s a place many people pass every day without a second thought.
That night, Kelly had been near what was then the Feed By The Tracks community meal, where volunteers served anyone in need: homeless and housed alike, families, children, seniors, and single adults. Kelly wasn’t under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He wasn’t stealing. He wasn’t armed. He was simply there.
Kelly lived with schizophrenia, something the officers knew. What followed was more than twenty minutes of violence. As
he was beaten, he cried out for his mother, his father, and for God to help him. Imagine being in that situation: terrified, in pain, pleading for your life while no one comes to save you. The incident was captured on surveillance cameras and police recordings. Everyone there watched and did nothing because they were terrified. Yet the officers were ultimately not convicted of excessive force in the justice system by an Orange County, CA jury…