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DA Withholds Name of Fullerton Police Officers in Kelly Thomas Case, Citing Concerns About Death Threats

By  Emma G. Gallegos
Published Aug 24, 2011 11:00 PM
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Photo by JP Myers via Picasa.
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The District Attorney is withholding the names of six Fullerton officers being investigated in the fatal beating of Kelly Thomas, citing a significant number of threats to the officers' safety.A spokesperson for the DA said it will release the officers' names when it decides to seek criminal charges.

The DA released a list of threats to the officers' safety to The Orange County Register, when the paper sought the officers' names through a public records request.

One of those threats listed came from the Friends for Fullerton's Future blog: "Someone should make these officers contact information and addresses public."

Blogger Travis Kiger told the OC Register that wasn't a threat, and said he hasn't seen any specific threats on the Friends for Fullerton's Future blog.

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"They release the names of suspected criminals every single day," he told the paper. "I don't understand in this case how it would be any different."

Other threats included:

  • Voicemails warning police to "get ready" and that "something will happen."

  • A caller to the police department's dispatch line warned that "a bomb will go off in your place soon."

  • One caller to the DA's office said "we're going to pull out the M16s, the AK47s... and we're going to turn them loose on you (expletive) cops."

  • Other examples listed in the letter: "Kill Fullerton Cops," "damn you to hell and I will see you there," and "Kelly Thomas was murdered by numerous officers and they should get the death penalty."

    • The DA's office said that while it is taking these anonymous threats seriously, it does not have any open criminal investigations into any of them.