We can't allow another THOMAS KELLY Killing 😡😡😡

Nine years ago today, Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill man living on the streets of Fullerton, California died from injuries resulting from a beating by local police five days earlier. The scandal of Thomas’ death highlighted problems with the way police interact with people experiencing homelessness, but despite hopes for systemic reforms and some positive changes, California continues to rely on law enforcement as a solution to the state’s large and growing homelessness problem.

On July 5, 2011, police responded to a call from a local bar, whose manager reported car break‐​ins or vandalism across the street. (Subsequently, an investigation suggested that this initial report was untrue; the bar manager was instead concerned that Thomas was loitering in the bar’s parking lot.) Police accosted Thomas and at some point the interaction turned violent. Police initially reported that Thomas was uncooperative and violent, and that several police officers were injured in the confrontation. However, witnesses, bolstered by videos, showed that the police were actually the aggressors, repeatedly tasering Thomas and beating him with batons and other weapons, even after he was restrained, and police retracted their initial claims of injuries.

After the beating, police officers were allowed to watch video of the incident before writing their reports, and internal information was restricted or withheld, leading to allegations of a cover‐​up. Moreover, evidence that one of the officers involved had previously been reprimanded for misconduct was kept from the public. Another officer was simultaneously collecting disability pay from the Los Angeles Police Department, which had determined him medically unfit for service. Three of the officers were charged with involuntary manslaughter, second‐​degree murder, and excessive use of force. After two of the officers were acquitted, charges against the third were dropped.

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