Over 14K People Want Fullerton Police Officers Fired for Murder of Kelly Thomas

This May, 19, 2002 family photo released by the Thomas family on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 shows Kelly Thomas. Thomas, 37, died July 10, five days after officers investigating car burglary reports tried to search his backpack. Surveillance video released earlier this week show witnesses telling a bus driver that officers beat him and repeatedly used a stun gun as he cried out for his father, sparking outrage in this quiet college town and causing a city councilwoman to call for the police chief’s ouster. (AP Photo/Thomas Family)

Paul Orloff, a Fullerton resident, has launched a Change.org campaign to bring the four Fullerton police officers who have yet to be charged in the Kelly Thomas murder case to justice. Thomas, a 37-year-old mentally ill homeless man, was brutally beaten by six Fullerton police officers on July 5. He died five days after the incident. Officer Manuel Ramos and Corporal Jay Cicinelli have both been charged in Thomas' death and placed on unpaid administrative leave. An internal investigation by the OC District Attorney's Office and the FBI pends completion and will determine whether or not the other four officers will be charged.

More than 14,000 people have joined Orloff's campaign, adding their signatures to "Remove All 6 Fullerton Police Officers Involved in the Murder of Kelly Thomas." The petition describes the case then demands that "these four Police Officers need to be disciplined and or fired."

Orloff said in a release, "The Fullerton Police must be held accountable for their role in the murder of Kelly Thomas. It appears they did nothing to stop the murder of this unarmed man, and it's unacceptable for them to remain a part of my city's police force. They are a danger to Fullerton citizens. Other Police Officers who obey their duties have lost the trust of citizens due to this murder, and will take time to earn that back thanks to something they had no control of."

Within hours of the campaign's launch, Orloff managed to recruit over 10,000 supporters. Change.org is wowed by the campaign's success. "What Paul Orloff has accomplished in just a few days is remarkable," said Change.org Senior Organizer for Criminal Justice Jon Perri in a release. "With no help, Paul recruited thousands of people to join him in taking on the entire Fullerton police force. Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action on the issues that matter to them, and it has been incredible to watch Paul's campaign grow."

News of the campaign's growing support should increase the pressure on Acting Police Chief Kevin Hamilton to discipline the officers.

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By Lauren Lloyd in News on October 24, 2011 9:00 AM 0 Comments

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carolynphillips

There is something fishy about a Civil Rights writer, Bushala and a Legal Column writer (OC Weekly’s Scott) who call themselves Civil Rights activists but who censor blog comments by troups in the trenches: Censored On Friends of Fullerton: To find out why; look but don’t touch, freetibetbooks.wordpress.com. Censored (Word search posts: ‘Warning’) #988 … Ron Thomas’ organizer Curt, sucker punched me…insisting that I participate at the ‘Kelly Thomas Memorial’ events; he gave me pics of Kelly to put in a book…I did put a pic from the papers in ‘The Jabberwocky’ blurb.com book. Ron… tried to sue me for unauthorized use of photos; the photo of Kelly is public domain. They Saw Me Coming: previously I had tried… to help Curtis…Curt insisted that I wanted to steal his ideas, a book about the transit system…my books are art books, not bus books…Curt was awe struck by my work…(but) no matter what I showed him or gave to him, he criminalized me. When I found out that he isn’t even homeless, but eats at Mary’s kitchen where he offers free bus passes (for a lewd fee) to homeless women, I felt hoodwinked. …They tried to play me like a slot machine. Ron posted to the ‘Friends of Fullerton’ blog: “This woman is out of her mind. ‘Kelly is dead so that Ralph’s can stay in business.’ Carolyn Phillips needs to leave me and Kelly alone. She has sent many E-Mails to me and some others with the same kind of BS. If anyone knows who she is, please get her some help.” –Ron (He is referring to 2 emails offering the book as a gift, he never previewed it. He was mad that his manipulative scheming didn’t get anything off of me: he sent his attack-trained army of couch potatoes after me with Internet libel. Ron Thomas proclaims the evil Feasting of Greedy Opportunists on Kelly’s Carcass, with the zeal of a town crier; “Me thinks the lady doth protest too much.” Lets start asking the right questions: what is Ron getting out of all of this. Lets start talking to the people who knew Kelly, the people who have been censored by Ron’s Army.)