Caught on Tape: Police Officers Who Mercilessly Beat Homeless Man to Death Go on Trial This Week (Video)
by Howard Crane
Kelly
Thomas, a 37-year old schizophrenic and homeless man, was beaten to
death by police in Orange County, California. Authorities say that
Thomas was a drug addict with a history of violence that had ruined his
brain through an addiction to methamphetamine and LSD since the 10th
grade. Thomas, who was known around the town as “Crazy Kelly,” screamed
in agony as he suffered devastating injuries from the police officers
who beat him. He panicked and insisted that he couldn’t breathe as he
was gasping for air and begging for his dad to rescue him as the cops
beat him unconscious on June 5th, 2011.
His
father was nowhere near the incident while Thomas endured the beating.
The Coroner’s report showed that Thomas died from a crushed thorax,
causing a cutoff of oxygen to his brain.
The
two officers who were responsible for the brutal and unnecessary attack
were recorded on video. They went to trial this week where one of them,
Manuel Ramos, was charged with murder. The other, Jay Cicinelli, was
charged with involuntary manslaughter. This is the first time in Orange
County history that a cop has gone on trial for murder.
Prosecutors
claim the surveillance video shows Ramos taunting the mentally ill man
until he’s so frightened he tries to run, giving the cops an excuse to
tackle and pound him into submission. On the video, before the beating
starts, Ramos can be heard reprimanding Thomas:
“It seems like every day, we have to talk to you about something. ... Do you enjoy it?” The officer later puts on plastic gloves and continues to taunt the confused, homeless man. “Now see my fists?” the officer asked. “They are getting ready to f*** you up.”
The
defense lawyers are claiming that Thomas reached for the officer’s gun,
which was not shown on video. Apparently, Thomas has a long history
with the law and drug abuse.
No
drugs were found in Thomas’ system the night he was brutally beaten by
the police. His family says that his history of run-ins with the cops,
mostly over such petty offenses as vandalism and urinating in a public
water fountain, is irrelevant when it comes to what happened on that
night outside a bus station more than two years ago.
“It doesn’t matter what my son did in his life, it just doesn’t matter,” said Thomas’s father, Ray. “It’s what the officers did that night. That’s what this trial’s about.”
WARNING: This video contains graphic content:
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