Bruce Whitaker Voices Suspicion of Cover-up
Watch this video clip of Fullerton City Councilman Bruce Whitaker explaining to David Nazar the lies, half-truths and distortions he’s been getting from his own employees about the Kelly Thomas murder.
Whitaker understands what we have understood all along: the Fullerton Police Department and its spokesman, union boss Andrew Goodrich, had no interest in telling anybody what really happened to the homeless victim Thomas on that hot July night in the Fullerton Transportation Center. The falsified reports, the return of the murderers to the street, and the lies peddled by Goodrich all point to one inescapable conclusion: the police department, stalled, lied, and temporized waiting for the scandal to go away.
Yes, Bruce, it must be really exasperating for an elected official to be stonewalled and sandbagged by a bunch of goons and thugs dressed up like policemen, and also by your City Manager and City Attorney who have handed over legal and managerial oversight of the police department to the cops themselves; and even more exasperating to know that the Three Dessicated Dinosaurs are committed to participate in protecting the crooked Culture of Corruption status quo.
First!
Douche………
LOL!
Wow, this is a great interview and speaks very well for council member Whitaker. I wonder if Quirk-Silva might be encouraged to speak out similarly. Citizens should email and encourage her.
What a moron! He has no clue what he is talking about! he is just making stuff up trying to make this a cover up! That moron even said he can’t prove a cover! Says he thinks the police reports were changed but yet he has never seen the police reports! Funny I couldn’t see one of chris thompsons hands, I think it was up Bruces ass and Thompson was moving his mouth for him! What a joke!
What Morons are you like in the 3rd grade? I’ve got bets that you are closely connected to the city and are in jeopardy of losing your job there. Don’t hate what the masses already know,seems you’ve got a little bit of growing up to do little boy.Geez….there is always some wacko out there stuck on stupid.
M@H what does that stand for? Massive Hemorrhoid? The only moron stuck on stupid is you if you believe all this BS FFFF is putting out!
Dear Morons,Your insults and name calling show you have a lot of growing up to do. FFFF is far more accurate then anything from the Fullerton PD. State one lie from FFFF and I will counter it with a 20 to 1 from your kin folk at the Fullerton PD.Are you game little boy? Until then shut your mouth and go read a book.
Massive Hemaroid do you know that the ass you are supporting waxbills by the city attorney that they (city counsel) cannot share any info! And that the video could not been shown!!! But yet Rhenish morons ! Whittiker an quirk! Decided they could do what ever they want even though they knew the video and most of the info on the case could not be shared! So what does that say you fricken moron! It says that they, the two baboons think they can do and say whatever they want!!!! F’n morons!
The council can do whatever it wants with three votes… that includes releasing a public record in its possession (the video).
But they cannot supersede law!!! that’s what you morons don’t understand but your two idiot counsel members know that, they just choose to ignore it!
Why don’t you tell us exactly which law they superseded?
Didn’t happen.
Stick to the script little boy,I believe our little debate is in the lies you are supposed to bring me from FFFF,remember our game little boy? You keep showing your ass on this board spouting like you have something relevant to say.I’m sure you are not following this so let me dumb it down for you,you have nothing to offer and I’m done trying to understand your incoherent 3rd grade ramblings. Seriously though you give real morons a bad name.
GED shines forth.
“Waxbills?” “Rhenish”?
Typos are one thing but you are inventing your own vocabulary. What is this, Jabberwocky? At least Lewis Carroll defined his terms in footnotes.
I say, second grade!
He can’t prove it, because he cannot share specific information that is disseminated in closed session.
I know it is hard to believe we have a problem with our City staff, but we do. The tail is wagging the dog and us citizens wont stand for it.
Also, he did not say the police reports changed. He stated the information supplied by the senior staff to City Council was false. He went on to say that be believed that the information was culled from official police reports that he had NOT seen.
Open your mind, Morons… You might be surprised at what you see.
http://fullertonstories.com/kfi-recall-rally-turnout-doesnt-meet-predictions/
Haha morons!!!! Keep wasting your time!
Dear Morons “AKA” Little boy, I told you I would counter everything you had that was negative or a lie. You truly do live up to give real morons a bad name. Here you go cop licker.
The Fullerton Recall Signing Event Was A Success!
http://www.fullertonrecall.com/2011/10/sign-the-fullerton-recall-petition/
Uhhhhh…. I think a coverup is a given!!
What a relief to have someone from the city who’s willing to voice his opinion and stand up for truth. I’ve spoke to him and his wife and thought they were both really good people.
Have you been following this case at all, “Morons”? “Making stuff up”? Go do some research.
The advantage in lying and stonewalling is to create doubt in our minds as to what the truth is and gain a time advantage so they can use what we say on their blogs as part of their defense strategies.
I feel bad for Bruce as he works so diligently hard in his position as Fullerton Councilmember to get accurate information from his own staff.
Fullerton need to get rid of the three blind mice!
can you imagine the holy hell those wolves and their pack is giving Bruce and anyone connected to him right now? Im sure the shit is hitting the fan about now
That’s why we all need to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with folks like Bruce Whitaker who are trying to do the right thing in the midst of all this tragedy and chaos.
Perhaps Garo Mardirosian will be able to get factual info through subpoena power.
Much of what Garo gets will likely be kept under lock and key by a protective order. You know… to protect Ramos and Cicinelli from the public.
phone records…..was there a phone call made about Kelly breaking into cars?…if so, was it a land line?….phone records….any phone records?
McPension is in a state of weird, narcissistic denial. HeeHaw is lost in his own febrile, southern-fried delusions. Bankhead is suffering from vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
The only people who support this morally and physically broken down crew are the evil bastards trying to profit off them.
…oddly enough there are also a fervant group of supporters from the local churches that the councilman attend, who demonize and blindly attack anyone supportive of the recall?
Seems kind of ironic that churchgoers would be big supporters of murderers and molesters, however maybe it’s one of those, “hate the sin, love the sinner” things, or maybe there are none so blind who will not see through these councilmans thin facades of righteousness?
Ok, junior forensic analysts: What possible advantage is conferred by serving up falsities that will surely be exposed later??
Take each lie, and ask: what purpose is served, if one can only reasonably conclude that the truth will eventually come out?
I look forward to your ideas!
I think the advantage is that no one’s ever been held accountable or punished for anything before, so go with what you know, i.e. an endless stream of lies.
The cover-up was expected to be successful like the ones that came before it.
The spectacular backfire and the agency’s subsequent unwinding will be studied for years to come.
I agree with Travis, teacher. I think that they thought that they could maintain the lie. Did Ricon think that he would be caught, or did he think that he and his accomplises could maintain the lie?
Travis nailed this Snow. They are accustomed to being able to simply write things like,
“The suspect fought viciously.”
“The suspect was in possession of what appeared to be stolen mail.”
“Officer Ramos’ hand was broken in the altercation.”
…and never have it brought up again. Remember, the blog had only begun aggressively pursuing this stuff a month or two before the Kelly Thomas case. They had little reason to believe that the efforts of powerless individuals like bloggers would result in real lies being brought to light.
The bottom line is that Bruce was told, as a Councilman, all three of those inaccurate pieces of information. How could the police get all three of those things wrong accidentally? If the cop’s hands were swollen, they were certainly x-rayed. What did they mistake for stolen mail? J.Crew brochures? The whole episode was reviewed by the writers of the reports on the same video that the DA drew his conclusions from. It appears to me that at some level, somebody lied. And, since Bruce had to ultimately learn the truth from the DA, those truths had to be covered up by somebody in between the cops on the scene and City Councilman Bruce Whitaker.
It was also notable to me…and everyone else, that McKinley sure seemed to have some inside info when he said that his understanding was that it might be only two cops really involved when he was on CNN.
Bottom line, they did not want Bruce in the loop.
With Bankhead, McKinley , and Jones, being like Eddie Haskell. Bruce Whitaker is like Beaver Cleaver… and given a choice who would you believe? I always believed the Beave!
who says they’ll be exposed later? everyone west of the mississippi is covering for someone-that includes lying scrotum attorneys, judges, friends, relatives, unions and other assorted scumbags-there is no purpose for lying other than covering to save face and avoid consequences-the lying will begat more lies-I wouldnt be surprised if there were big lying teleconferences going on right now to discuss what story they are going to stick with.
They have been counting on a lack of accountability. You can tell that is their instinctive reaction: “things happen,” “people make mistakes,” “cops are human,” etc. They never thought their town would rise up en masse and demand that crimes be punished and public officials be held accountable. Nobody ever seems to expect that, particularly in Southern California where civic corruption and brutal
and incompetent policing are a well-established tradition. They will obfuscate, conceal and lie until the bitter end, when they will turn on each other or find a convenient scapecoat
upon which to affix all blame. The Feds must come in and drain this swamp.
Missed John & Ken’s 5 o’clock hour and they don’t post podcasts of their live shows…
Did anyone give an update on the petition signing? Total signatures so far? Half-way? Etc… ???
They promised to be done by Christmas.
Thx!
It was on channel 4 news tonight. It is also on there website.
Tony when was this interview?
Today. I believe the whole show will be broadcast on Thursday at 1:00 pm and Friday at 7:30 pm on PBS.
Please tell me that isn’t Larry Bennett seated in the middle.
I have this bad feeling I’m going to need to retract all respect I had for the guy.
CONDEMN AND KNOCK YOUR FPD AND YOUR CITY BOSSES. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THEY HAVE THE POWER AND THE LUCRATIVE PENSION PACKAGES. PUBLIC OFFICIALS SHOULD LOSE THEIR PENSIONS IF EVER PROSECUTED FOR ALL THEIR KNOWN AND UNKNOWN CRIMES IN FULLERTON LEADING UP TO A FPD SPONSORED PUBLIC EXECUTION.
ANOTHER IMPERATIVE MATTHER THE DA SQUASHED THE CHARGES AGAINST THE SEXUAL PREDATOR RINCON AT THE BEHEST OF THE POWERFUL IN FULLERTON. THE DA NEEDS TO EXPLAIN WHY HE DID’NT PROSECUTE.
THE FBI WILL IGNORE ALL THE CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THIS FULLERTON MESS. THEY ARE TOO MANY POWERFUL MASTERS INVOVED HERE AND THEIR CONNECTIONS ARE ALL POWERFUL.
it’s a matter of pride to the feds to bust crooked cops. makes them look sweet. NOLA thought the same thing for the same reasons. fullerton is not the master of squat to the FBI. dont let time discourage you the payback is just gettin started
“…if one can only reasonably conclude that the truth will eventually come out?”
You dont get it do you?
They had obviously “bet” that the truth wouldn’t come out.
Have you even considered that if even 5% of what is alleged in this blog is accurate, the Fullerton Police Department and elements of City Council have engaged in a foolish collaborative cover-up.
Quite plausible, and most likely factual.
Excellent!
Whitaker doesnt have shit!! He wants to sound like he has something. He sounds like an idiot. Very stupid. He has nothing!!
And, of course, your coment contained SO MUCH substantive information!
Why does the city council(3) act as if they are being sequestered for a jury? At least state that you do not have any information, you can’t just go hide and expect this to go away. You are in a divided house at city hall and it will bear on your private lives as well and in time, tear your families apart.
You are getting very detrimental staff and legal support by not responding. You have not had a semblance of honest staff in several matters for quite a long time. Have your whole lives been corrupt and you made your career by functioning in such a manner of disrespect to all others including your families.
Who is your puppet master and ventriloquist?
The FBI is being very discrete,thorough,and timely in their investigation.
I expect there may be as many as 40 indictments.
Are all of you ready for that 4 AM knock on the door? You and your families will not be allowed to go back into the house until a judge makes a ruling and all your bank accounts may frozen until a comprehensive audit is completed.
I am by no means a specialist at how the inner workings of the FBI go about their business ,but a reasonable man or woman would be thinking damned near exactly what you have stated.
I didn’t vote for Whitaker but I sure will in the future. And I’m hoping for more like him out there that are willing to run for the THREE empty seats that will soon be vacant.
By the way, thank you Councilman Whitaker! It takes courage and integrity to say those things in a public forum.
the FPD thought kelly thomas was another forgotten homeless man who had no family or friends to notice if he were snuffed out. they were wrong.
Bruce Whitaker’s e-mail addresses:
bruce.whitaker@asm.ca.gov
council@ci.fullerton.ca.us
I have a problem with the lack of access to FPD info to a city councilmember. Bruce Whitaker needs to get a pro-bono attorney who would like to make themselves a name, and begin to subpeona for information. Do not go to the city attorney or city manager who both know that if the recall is successful, the city attorney and city manager are history!
Its time to move forward to obtain info on FPD, info like number on sick leave, admin leave, other leaves, number who actually are on duty on an average day. Then comparison of FPD salaries and benefits to that of other similar size cities in southern california. I can go on and on and this info should certainly be available to a city council member. If not get an attorney.
In addition, how many extra dollars are paid to councilmembers, and city attorney for the many committees and commissions like the redevelopment commission that the councilmembers, mayor and attorney are assigned to. Its enormous. In Lynwood, the councilmembers on 14,000 per year salaries received lifetime health benefits and on top of that their pay from all the committees, etc. totalled over $125,000 per year for a part time job!
When you squeeze a bag full of slime, you would be surprised at the amount of brown stuff that squirts out!
friend: Sadly the FPD was right, Kelly Thomas had no family or friends to notice if he was alive. He does not need their help now, he needed it when he was alive! Where were they then? They only came out of the woodwork AFTER he died. Ever wonder why? Ask Dad Thomas $$$$ twenty million reasons!!!!!!!
Whether homeless or not, cared for and loved by family or not, Kelly Thomas did not deserve to be beaten to death by six Fullerton Police Department officers. Ron Thomas’ actions in regard to his son have absolutely no bearing on the actions of the six officers who beat him to death and to try to link the two is ludicrous. Are you saying that if someone does not have family that cares for them then it is okay for police to brutality beat them to death? I suspect that when these perpetrators are looking for someone to brutalize, that is exactly what they are counting on–that some homeless schizophrenic guy has no one who cares about them so the police are safe to beat him without fear of retribution. I think they were shocked, and still are, to discover that they made a serious error when they thought they could do what they did to Kelly Thomas and no one would no or care. Same thing with all those women Rincon molested, Mam, Martinez, Quinonez, and others–probably many, many others.
I am so tired of hearing this mantra, ZZZZZ
Doesn’t matter to me. Justice is justice no matter WHO you are,…. who loves, or loved you.
Everyone is entitled to it, regardless, deal with that fact.
Bitch we’ve been over this many times already and your BS has been so thoroughly debunked that I’m surprised you keep coming back for more. Do you ENJOY being proven stupid over and over again? Is this a masochistic thing?
I think the city attorney and the city manager along with the FPD have hijacked the city of Fullerton.
The FPOA has done the hijacking via the ballot box and the money they can deliver to local candidates. I’m a lifelong registered democrat and someone who directly benefited from union representation—BUT, there need to be safeguards put in place to limit the power public unions have in influencing local elections.
Resident are prisoners of the managers of the city. Wow talk about upside down
It is Kelly, who, with his blood, opened the eyes of the people of Fulleerton and people around the nation and even the world to the horrors of corruption and sadistic violence perpetratrated by the Fullerton city council and the Fullerton pd against its own citizens. Cover-ups, lies, murder, sexual molestations. Kelly has friends and family that will never forget him and people like myself that never knew him, but will never forget him. Your’e right about one thing, he has transended needing our help, it is he, who has become a symbol of the oppressed and victimized that has caused the rest of us to wake from our lethargy and demand answers and justice and your world will never be the same again, especially when the Feds begin taking the guilty into custody…………..
Well done councilman Whitaker, your cander is a refreshing change of pace from the blatent lies and misinformation that has emanated from other members of the council. Your integrity and honesty are traits that the city of Fullerton desperatly needs right now and in the future.
Whitaker can finally see it’s a fight for his survival.
Last November, the Fullerton police union spent $30,000 trying to get Roland Chi (the food poisoner) elected. How much will they spend next go around?
Go Bruce Go!
Nomad: Who do you think brought the Feds into this? Or at least, requested that they come into this. I think you would be surprised, but it will all come out soon I hope.
Sean Nelson?
Do any of you, any one of you at all, see the hypocrisy in Ron Thomas and the Thomas family? With a restraining order against his son and a refusal to even see him or allow him in his home. Not a meal or use of the bathroom or a place to sleep. No clean clothes.
I heard today at the rally that Kelly was not in possession of stolen property at the time of his detention by the police. That is a falsehood that the family put out. That is how Kelly survived. Poor sad creature that he had become, and all thanks to his dad.
Mom Thomas or whoever she was, said that they wanted to clear KT’s name. What does that mean? Clear his name? Huh?
Who are the real murderers here? Let’s be honest. Please.
A restraining order!
No contact with Kelly!
Did not want to see Kelly!
Did not feed Kelly!
Did not clothe Kelly!
Did not give him money for food!
Need I go on?
Whats the matter Jaynbond? Feeling a little left out that your not getting a slice of Ron’s pie? At issue is THE COPS MURDERED A MAN and “tried” to get away with it…the plan failed.Need I go on?
What killed Kelly Thomas was the combined weight of the police officers who cut off his ability to take air into his lungs, the repeated jolts of electricity with tasers to his body, the strikes to his body with batons, the pounding of his face with a taser, the kneeing and punching of his head and body. The fact that he had broken ribs and broken facial bones and copious bleeding further demonstrates the brutality of the attack.
For the sake of argument, let’s say that Ron Thomas is a hypocrite and/or did not care about Kelly. What’s that got to do with the six police officers beating Kelly Thomas to death? None, really. So you can continue the victim blaming stance and cast aspersions on Kelly Thomas and the Thomas family, which is a common strategy used by guilty people to take the focus of the issue at hand, but it still has nothing to do with the actions of the six police officers who beat Kelly Thomas to death. None. Furthermore, FPD can only blame itself if they now find themselves with lawsuits related to violation of civil rights. The Kelly Thomas incident is really just the culmination of a longstanding history of deepening corruption and escalating violence by FPD. Taking all incidents together that have come to light is what gives people reason to question the Fullerton leadership and the fact that there is now documented and validated evidence of wrongdoing by FPD means that everything they have been doing is suspect.
It is interesting to note that the coroner’s cause of death (compression of the thorax) differs from the ICU doctors (drowning in his own blood). I see this as possible collusion by the powers that be to let the cops off. Tony R sure seemed genuinely emotional at his press conference, but if all 6 officers weight is what caused death – why aren’t the other 4 charged? It’s a loophole to let the two charged off the hook (possibly)…”See, the head trauma and tazering didn’t kill him.”
Even if you were 100% right it wouldn’t matter. We expect our police not to beat people to death. Put it together with the other police misconduct documented on this blog and elsewhere and you have a pattern which must be investigated. Ron Thomas was instrumental in getting us to all pay attention, but honestly at this point he is not very relevant. We are going to continue to uncover police brutality and political corruption until our city is clean. You’re just wasting out time talking about Ron Thomas.
Ron Thomas is a good man and we will not take that away from him. Ron was instrumental in getting the ball rolling along FFFF for having the balls to call the city on the carpet as soiled as that carpet is. Funny how a simple blog has had such a huge impact. I bet the 3 on the recall ballot never saw this coming.
Now that the light is shining brightly on the corruption, FPD is completely busted and now they are desparate to try to shift the spotlight somewhere else. It’s sort of laughable. It’s good that they post these things because it continually reinforces exactly what the people are speaking out against. I have a feeling that the trolls are not smart enough to realize that, though.
YES RON GONNA GET PAID, HOPEFULLY IT COMES OUT OF YOUR POCKETS DIRECTLY SCUM PIG
Come on! Kelly Thomas was 37! Yes he needed help. Would he accept help? Would he take the meds that would keep him stable? Did he want to be ‘stable’? I think the answer to all the above is a big no.
bla bla bla beep blop blab beep beep. please continue piggy
Paul: Why would anyone give information to the City Council? Why? Why? Why? So they can release more personal information to the public like they wanted to do with the Officers’ information when all this started? Like Sharon Quack-Silva demanded? She wanted to release the Officers’ personal information from day one. She should have been removed from the council immediately! The Officers’ guilt or innocence has not yet been determined but she made it an issue. The fact that she was against them from the start shows her lack of loyalty to the city of Fullerton and she should be added to the list for recall. An investigation into the situation would have been nice before demanding the release of personal info. Release personal info about her and where she lives and where her kids go to school and where she shops and what she does on a daily basis. Would she like that? I think not!!! She is a total hypocrite.
Unfortunately, the fact that there appeared to be a lack of thorough “investigation into the situation” for quite some time until the voices of the people got loud enough is what led to the feeling of distrust for the process and the FPD.
Kind of like how the cops do when they arrest someone and turns out the haven’t done a damned thing except get railroaded by corrupt cops? Hog Wild I think you need to shut you pie hole,seems there is some bullshit spilling from it.
She’s not a danger to public safety. Fullerton cops are. End of story.
boo-hoo porkchop
Why that would be O.C. supervisor Shaun Nelson who formally requested that the Feds take over the investigation…Suprise! I also hope this all “comes out soon” the sooner Fullerton rids itself of the corrupt element in the city council and overhauls the p.d. the sooner Fullerton can begin the healing process.
Who are the real murderers here? No where on “jaynbonds” list did I see “blunt force trauma” So I will say those that inflicted the blunt force trauma are the real murderers here. Actually these questions have been raised or some variation of them and have been answered in detail many times on this blog, so I will not address them again.
It’s called “blaming the victim” and it is a strategy often used to fog the issue. It is not logical in any way and, in fact, tends to make the person using the strategy appear to be somewhat intellectually limited and limited in their ability for abstract reasoning. It is used to get an emotional response that gets people involved in a discussion about something other that the issue at hand.
The story of corruption in Fullerton is world wide now.The spectacular backfire is epic and out of their control. No amount of damage control,lies and cover ups are going to work as they have in the past.The cat is out of the bag and there is a whole city behind this movement to correct,remove and fix the failures of the city brought on by the ones who took their elected positions to corrupt levels. How can you trust someone,anyone, especially leaders of a city who flat out lie to you? Nothing worse then a pack of lairs running amuck. The truth never changes as it is factual~lies on the other hand evolve into more lies and continually change. NEVER TRUST A LAIR.
Nomad: Before Shaun Nelson were other factors, which is all that I am authorized to say at this time. I would like to say more but I cannot yet do so. Hopefully soon. Probably not before the trials start.
Well said, late crew, goodnight!
Blaming the victim? Would that be RON THOMAS? He seems to think he has been victimized in this matter, not his son.
Riddle me this Jaynbond, How is any of this Ron’s fault that Kelly was murdered? A man sitting on a bench gets beaten to death by 6 cops,it does not matter what that man had for breakfast or where he shopped that day,he was murdered by 6 cops while minding his own business sitting on a bench. Enlighten me smartass.
Well, the victim blaming of Kelly Thomas was not effective so it quickly switched to blaming Ron Thomas for the actioins of the F6; it is still a stance to take responsibility from the shoulders of the perpetrators and place it elsewhere and it is still ludicrous.
How can you possibly say that a father that lost his son has not been victimized? Every single morning when I wake my son up for school and see his smiling face, I think of the sadness that Ron Thomas must have felt when he saw his own son’s bloody and barely recognizeable face in a hospital bed.
I have vowed to myself, that I will do everything in my power to make sure that no parent will ever have to face what Ron Thomas faced in the hospital when he looked at his son one last time before saying goodbye.
Would you not feel victimized if you were a member of the Thomas family? Their family member was beaten to death by the FPD for no damn reason.
How can you think that with all the crimes and corruption in Fullerton covered up by the DAs office is going to change. These immoral bastards will walk away with lifetime pension packages that were designed by all these criminal conspirators. The animals will we laughing at us until the last star falls.
Their bonus is walking away with a pension at best. If the worst we can do is recall the corrupt then at least we have done something…doing nothing is not acceptable.
Your points on the DA and his cronies are well founded and that it why we vote to remove,replace and move forward~without a drop of blood shed. We the people are not the police,we don’t have to beat you to get our point across,we vote.
I’m really surprised the 3 council people haven’t just walked away. They are all very well, legally pensioned and have nothing to gain except to shove a failed recall in the faces of FFFF. Why they would even want to be council people anymore in Fullerton is beyond me. I guess that must be their reason.
Fullerton Recall Petition Sparks Community Debate
Recall and anti-recall tensions boil with broadcasted petition signing.
By Alexis Shaw | Wednesday, Oct 19, 2011 | Updated 7:19 PM PDTView Comments (0) | Email | Print
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On Wednesday, Fullerton residents broadcast their grievances against elected officials at a petition signing event at city hall on KFI’s “John and Ken Show.”
Special Section: The Kelly Thomas Case
The petitions are part of the recall effort directed toward Mayor Pro Tem Don Bankhead, Councilmember Pat McKinley and Mayor Richard Jones.
The organizers of Fullerton Recall stand “in opposition to the closed government policies exhibited by the City of Fullerton and the Fullerton PD,” according to their website.
The petitions advocate that these officials need to be held accountable for corrupt government practices and they were unable to do their job effectively in the wake of Kelly Thomas’ death on July 5.
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“I think the primary failing is the lack of leadership in controlling the behaviors of the Fullerton police department and remaining virtually silent in the wake of the Kelly Thomas incident,” said Chris Thompson, spokesperson for the blog Friends of Fullerton’s Future. “It took a month to pull these officers off the street.”
Larry Bennett, Fullerton Planning Commissioner and spokesman for Protect Fullerton – Recall No, says that the lack of leadership claims will dissipate as people begin to look at the issues with cooler heads.
Bankhead, McKinley, and Jones were following the law in regards to the Kelly Thomas case, despite allegations that they were participating in a cover up, said Bennett.
“The Kelly Thomas case is now the DA’s case, and it’s now criminal to divulge any information that would be in that police investigative report to anyone other than the DA, the grand jury and the attorney general,” said Bennett.
Thompson was critical of the three politicians for leading campaigns through endorsements by the Fullerton Police Department.
“I don’t know of any espoused political party that states, ‘We like to waste money, we like to spend more than we receive, we like to empower police to do whatever they want, and we like our elected leaders to protect police and go dead silent in the wake of police breaking the laws,'” said Thompson.
Bennett said that the recall is born out of political opportunism.
“In a moment when a horrific, tragic accident occurred, it just became an easier thing. ‘Let’s allege this cover up.’ Well, that goes away when people start realizing that the DA took this case on seriously,” Bennett said.
City of Fullerton Public Information Officer Sylvia Palmer Mudrick said that the city does not have a comment on petition signings at city hall.
“The city has only one role, and that is to certify the signatures when they come in, and if necessary, to schedule the election,” Mudrick said.
Residents began recall efforts over two months ago, when three official petitions were brought to city hall on Aug. 12. All three petitions were approved by city clerk Lucinda Williams on Sept. 9.
In order for the petitions to be implemented, they each require a minimum of 10,554 signatures, 15 percent of registered Fullerton voters. Signatures are due by Feb. 16, 2012.
Petition signings have been held at supermarkets across Fullerton. Supporters tabled at Ralphs, Albertson, and Stater Bros locations in the Fullerton area to rally support for the recall.
Thompson said while he wasn’t giving out specific numbers to gauge the recall’s progress, he said petitioners are on a track that allows them to accomplish their goals in a fraction of the time given.
A newly created Fullerton Homeless Task force will start work Thursday advocating for the city’s needy.
Follow NBCLA for the latest LA news, events and entertainment: Twitter: @NBCLA // Facebook: NBCLA
Posted Wednesday, Oct 19, 2011 – 5:24 PM PDT
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They are afraid of the truth coming out once the FPD is further exposed as viscious criminals. These cutthroats will start giving each other up if there was a honest investigation. Sadly, the DAs office is corrupt. The DA is has time on his side he will delay and postpone all Fullerton issues and all of us will go away. The bosses know this. That is why they will dominate forever. Learn to live with it.
Mike public officials should lose their pensions if convicted of a crime. Then again they won’t be convicted of anything. Ramos will be qyitely released in time,
WATCH AND REMEMBER WHAT I SAY TODAY.
They should lose their pension if convicted of a crime,however I am not an expert at how their pensions work if convicted of a crime.I would hope they lose it if so. As for Ramos,yes we will have to wait and see. I have my chips on that once the video is seen all bets are off. Whatever that video contains will have a impact,a big impact on who is going to prison and who is not. If all was well in the land of copperville they would not have gone to the lengths to cover this mess up and Sellers would not of ran off into hiding. And there sure as hell is a lot of lying going on from the police dept and the city leaders.
Travis the game is not over yet. The jackson trial and the recent massacre will occupy the masses for awhile and the Fullerton nuisance will be squashed by the DAs office. Wait and see the so called FICTIONAL FBI interest will never appear. The DA will laugh all the way up the political ladder. That is why the recall will be rejected by some judge that the FPD and the city bossea own.
Fullerton Homeless Task Force to Begin Work
“Our officers are trained,” said Sgt. Andrew Goodrich. They try to use compassion, but we have to enforce the law, and there are complaints we are responding to.”
Translation:
Our officers are trained to bully and kill when necessary, and you can’t stop them! Nah, nah!
They can’t use compassion when they enforce the law because there are complaints we are responding to, and they have to get the job done by any means necessary, including extreme force. That is just the reality. Like it or lump it.
http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Fullerton-Recall-Effort-Underway-132204628.html
The councilman’s words in this interview speak volumns. There is chaos and collusion behind the scenes.
The house of cards is beginning to fall. The feds will be the ones to knock it over.
Moron is a troll who wears a badge.
I look at this situation at Fullerton PD and compare the cops to a band of pirates hijacking and comandeering a large freighter on the high seas out of personal selfish greed.
Some people claim that good cops work for Fullerton PD too. Where are they? Why don’t they unite and step forward to publicly condemn the actions of the bad ones?
Sorry, silence is complicity. You can’t claim to be a good person when you cover for a bad person.
Not hard to figure out.
Gee Bill W, it appears that you are an expert in all aspects of this ordeal.
Your comments remind me of McKinley when he stated in his CNN interview, “there will only be 2 cops found culpable out of the six. There is no way 6 people can beat someone at the same time, etc.”
Is there anything else you can tell us about the future of this case, Mr. Clairvoyant?
Keep up your wishful thinking and we welcome your comments. lol
Thank you Bruce for having the courage to step forward and tell the truth.
Sellers incompetence and failure to protect the public from department abuses occurred prior to his medical issues. Fullerton has reasonable grounds for immediate termination.
all pieces of shit ,
voting will not work ,
chain all who are responsible , all who are guilty , on a chain , in a public field , and let them , be all together , chained , one to another , for a few yeARS ,, fuck them , , fuck them fuck them ,
fuck the system , it never worked anyway, men , women , you better be prepaired,
Bruce Whitaker for Mayor!
Nothing at all will happen to the FPD. The connections reach beyond the corrupt DA office.
I am so tired of people saying that if Kelly’s family had only loved him enough to keep him locked up or forcefully medicated then none of this would have happened. Are these people really suggesting that we need to keep our grown sons and daughters under lock and keyto protect them from THE POLICE?!?!? What is this . . Soviet Russia? 1939 Germany?
That’s like blaming the spouses of everyone killed in the Seal Beach murders for going to work that day. It’s funny how people try to divert attention away from 6 rouge cops on murderous killing frenzy.
or blaming battered wives for being beat over and over again by their husbands
Or how about blaming the woman for being sexually assaulted by a cop because she worked at a bar?
McKinley thinks it’s ok.
Please. He’s enjoying a taxfree pension laughing his ass off with immunity. After the controversy fades away Seller’s will return to the FPD as a highly paid consultant for another pension.
KFI Recall Rally Turnout Doesn’t Meet Predictions
http://fullertonstories.com/kfi-recall-rally-turnout-doesnt-meet-predictions/
The ‘rally’ was pretty anemic. John and Ken said they had a whole block! It was more like a few dozen people between Commonwealth and Amerige, which is a mighty short ‘block’.
50 signatures by 5pm?!
I don’t profess to know much about these things but that sounds kind of…underwhelming.
People are afraid of being targeted by the FPD. I stayed away because of that reason. It’s scary in this city and it probably won’t change. The dictators are here to stay. They are not giving up all the power and money.
Fear is a bogus excuse!!!! What the hell are people afraid of?? Have John and Ken broadcast on a Saturday instead of a workday!!
yeah-youre right- people from fullerton and other places (like me) work in the middle of the week-hello
and suck it up if you’re afraid- nothing will change if you do nothing. no one’s going to harm a hair on your head in fullerton-or the clowns in fullerton risk investigation and media blasts
They will get plenty more signatures once the ‘sheep-like’ citizens wake up and smell the corruption.
Don’t worry, FFFF with the help from KFI and us will get it done.
Do not despair because of the low turnout. I could not be there yesterday, but I listened to as much as the show as I could. Actually, I believe a lot of people listened. And, no matter what the recall results, the truth will come out, all of it.
This is not going to go away, ever.
Someone pointed out to me that after Rodney King, things died down and business was back to the usual. I was living in Long Beach at the time and watched the city and university close down as the building were burning along Long Beach and Atlantic Blvds. It was a truly scarey time, one that I will never forget. Chief Gates made some bad decisions during that time which was his downfall and has forever stained his memory.
Consider this statement by him:
“His dismissive response to concerns about excessive force by police employing “choke holds.” Gates attributed several deaths of people held in choke holds to the theory that “blacks might be more likely to die from chokeholds because their arteries do not open as fast as they do on ‘normal people.'”[16] (In his autobiography, Gates explained that he had been misquoted, saying that black people were more predisposed to vascular conditions and therefore less likely to have normally-functioning arteries.)”
Of course he was diverting attention to the real issue, which was unwarranted excessive force. Rodney King was running and resisting, but did he deserve to beaten within an inch of his life? Some people think so. Sound familiar?
Daryl Gates’ career ended with that incident, just like all the FPD liars should too.
I doubt whether people are going to be as tolerant of those currently in charge of Fullerton. Recalled or not, they are all going down in disgrace. And that means you too, Pat McKinley!
The more I read about this, the more angry I become.
Good one Jane H-stay angry.
heres a petition for you -its for a bill “the Kelly Thomas bill” that makes it a crime for coppers to stand around cutting their toenails while one of their blue brothers beats someone
please, please sign and pass-the petition is coming along great but it needs more sigs
http://www.petition2congress.com/4898/kelly-thomas-law/view/
I signed it already. Thank you.
And I will pass it along wherever I can.
thank you honey
Well said.
How about this:
John and Ken mentioned that-Bankhead, I believe it was-was the target of a successful recall in the past.
He ran for re-election. And was re-elected.
I’d like to hear someone explain THAT one.
John and Ken did, yesterday …. people have short memories
Afterwards he successfully ran for re-election another four times.
Suppose we successfully toss him out. Who’s to say he won’t run (and be re-elected) again?
I can handle that one. it was in 1994, before the simultaneous replacement election. The City stalled and stalled and stalled until judge finally ordered a replacement election – three weeks before the general election. Bankhead was finally replaced by Peter Godfrey in mid-October. But meanwhile Bankhead had already filed to run in one of the open seats in the regular election, which he won – due to the complaisasance of the electorate.
Of course all he did then was support his pension through an unnecessary utility tax to help pay his pension. He’s been hiding another tax, now illegal, on water – to help pay for his pension.
Thanks, TDR.
Seriously, that is flabbergasting. To be tossed out of office, and immediately run for said office again.
They wish!
They WISH!
Yes, that is what they are saying. As I’ve said before, it is truly bizarre.
well, yes-they think
Has Larry Bennett completely lost his mind? Honest question here.
Larry is a shill for the remnant Ackerslime crowd. He sells them insurance.
I am from Phoenix AZ and I have been fallowing this story from day one.
Every time that I wread new print on this or look at pixs. My chest feals like there is a weight on it and tears come to my eyes.
To think that police officers would go out of controle and do some think like this. Then their lies to cover this up is just plain garbage. The two officers that are being charged are no better than any civialn that would go out and do the same thing. GARBAGE! Then you have the other officers with the lies. More GARBAGE. Every one involved had a hand in this one way or an other and should be punished to the full extent of the law. Localy, state, and federal.
ADMIN – Speak to KFI and see if it would be possible for John and Ken to do a special Saturday recall show when more people would be available to sign petitions. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask!
Something strange happened last night, I’d like to ask your opinions.
I have a camper stored in an RV storage lot at a Wesminster mobile home park. For a year and a half I’ve kept it there w/o incident. The owners of the three homes adjacent to the lot have my number and have been asked to call me if they see anything-vandalism, etc.
I got a call at 12;45am this morning from a neighbor, telling me several Westminster PD officers were standing outside my camper, knocking repeatedly, shining their lights and demanding loudly whoever was inside “come out”. After 10 minutes, they left.
I called their dispatch and inquired as to the nature of the call, I was told “They were probably just making sure everything was okay.”
Unsatisfied, I went directly to the WPD a moment ago and again inquired. I was told there was no record at all of any officers having been sent to that address this morning, last night, or the day before. Now I know for a fact they were there because my neighbor recorded the incident through the window.
I wonder if it had anything to do with my presence on this blog and the protestes. 😀
Your paranoid. They don’t care what you say or what you do. Take your meds and put on a tin foil hat, everything will be fine.
Larry, where you been? The system is corrupt. The DA has dodged the crimes on the public in Fullerton for years. It’s taken world exposure to bring attention to the criminals who own my city and nothing will be done. The DA will sabotage the Kelly Thomas and release the psychos. He has his bosses to answer to. Larry that’s the way it is.
Larry from Phoenix: The officers have not lied about anything. I don’t know where you got that. They have not spoken to anyone, so be comforted and save the tears.
#127: Anonymous RV storage lot reply:
They were investigating something else and your storage looked possible. Probably stolen items. Put a larger, more secure lock on there so no one can break in and place stolen junk in there. Since it was part of another investigation, there was no reason for police to turn that info in. They would be spending all their time writing. If you would like, file a complaint, but what for?
Anyway, make sure your storage RV is very secure. A big lock with a case hardened hasp – and I mean a BIG lock. That dissuades everyone unless they have a search warrant.
I am surprised that this hasn’t been discussed. A woman spoke during the final round of comments and asked where the findings were of the city doctor and Sellers’s doctor. What happened with that? Bankhead gave a smile and said, “Oh we can’t answer that.” The meeting was adjourned and the mayor said, “Ma’am, I just wanted to tell you that we have absolutely NO CONTROL over Chief Sellers medical leave.” I believe him, but who put that lovely little tidbit of information out there for the public to swallow that the city was actually on it about Sellers and not give information about it?
I believe they will try to make Sellers the scapegoat for all FPD problems.
At the John and Ken show in Fullerton, just prior to its start I saw a detective talking to Ron Thomas.
I wonder what that was about.
Probably just chit-chat. Or, maybe… the detective is an advance guy for a large group of FPOA members who want to support RT … nah, but it would be nice if it were.
Easily explained. His replacement was Conrad DeWitt. As soon as he was elected he signed up for medical benefits, and left for the annual League of California Cities conference.
This guy was so inept, that the Council threw him off the Library Board of Trustees, and it took the electorate less than three meeting to figure that they had made a mistake.
DeWitt was truly an idiot!
I will look forward to reading a relevant, eye opening post when your handlers “authorize” you to speak
Are these guys in a cult or what? The events in Fullerton after the Kelly Thomas murder i.e. phony tickets, intimidating looks, sexual predators covered up for, tainted book promos, wrongful arrests & incarcerations, out of control drivers careening into Mr. Thomas’ car, ect. remind me of one of those late 60’s early 70’s movies Rosemarys Baby, Race with the devil, just keeps getting weirder….
City-Funded Investigation Of Kelly Thomas Beating Has Finally, And ‘Officially,’ Started
The city-funded investigation of Kelly Thomas’ beating death at the hands of Fullerton cops has finally started.
Michael Gennaco, who was hired by the Fullerton City Council in August to investigate both the July 5 beating and the police department’s overall “practices and procedures,” told the Weekly that he started to delve into the investigative process this week.
Although he had already begun his investigation of the department as a whole, Gennaco was holding off on investigating Thomas’ death until after the district attorney’s office finished its investigation in late September.
On Friday, Gennaco picked up the DA’s report, which he called “a big hunking thing,” adding that he’s currently “in the middle of it.”
While the investigation has now “officially” started, Gennaco says he’ll still be in the “review process” for a few days. Once he’s sifted through all of the information in the report, he plans to make a list of additional witnesses and chart out an interview schedule.
One of the main things Gennaco plans to do that the DA didn’t is interview the officers involved in Thomas’ beating. Those interviews will probably come at the tail end of his investigation, Gennaco says. Asked if the officers could deny to be interviewed, Gennaco said, “Well, not really. They can be compelled to cooperate. It’s different than for the DA.”
He’s also still in the process of formulating a list of recommendations for how the department could better function. Gennaco, who runs Los Angeles County’s office of independent review, said that after his work in LA, “The Fullerton Thing” is his “second most important focus,” adding that he has a team of four people to help him.
Per the contract, Gennaco has a $260 hourly rate, and the city anticipates paying him between $70,000 and $80,000 for the combined costs of the two investigations.
Councilman Bruce Whitaker, the only member of the five-person city council who voted against hiring Gennaco, because he anticipated a long delay before the investigation started, told the Weekly he’s glad the ball is finally rolling. “We’ve been waiting a long time,” Whitaker said, adding that he found it “very disturbing” to watch “business as usual” continue in the city after Thomas’ death.
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2011/10/city-funded_investigation_of_k.php
Councilmen explain silence on Thomas case
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jones-323010-city-police.html
I’m sorry, this is a crock of you-know-what-the article, that is. Who the hell is David Whiting anyway????
The whole thing was caught on tape, multiple witnesses-there is NO excuse-they can spin this thing all they want. No one is getting dizzy anymore.
There is something wrong with David Whiting. It seems that in his attempt to be neutral, he sways way over to the other side, of course showing his true colors.
“Three members of Fullerton’s city council have declined to join those who continue to spew vitriol over the police-related death of a homeless man. Now, they are the target of a recall effort.”
Well that sums it up perfectly. He forgot a few things in between, but that’s it in a nutshell. He makes it sound as though that’s a bad thing. 🙂
If he means vitriol, as in cruel and bitter criticism, he’s right. And I see nothing wrong with that given the circumstances.
O.k. that smiley came out of nowhere. I created an ascii one and that popped up. I wonder what else is hidden in this blog.
🙁
That one was a test. Cool!
GOOD ONE..LOL!!!
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/jones-323010-city-police.html
Councilmen Explain Silence on Thomas Case
Go Bruce! You at least recognize what is going on here, and I for one THANK YOU for standing up for what is right.
…that said, I feel the need to comment on the J&K show yesterday: I think they missed a huge opportunity in that they did not have speakers there to simulcast the show live. I also think that they did that on purpose, to keep it smaller than it should have been. Anyone else notice that their body guards were within feet of them the whole time? I do not blame them for that, all things considered, but I hoped for more than what they did yesterday.
Overall I have to give them credit though, they came out and helped us here in Fullerton to try and re-gain control over our representatives, and promised to come back if it was needed. That in and of itself is very noble.
As far as signatures I would guess (cased on numbers before yesterday) that we are somewhere around 7500. We need at least 14,000 by Feb. so that is actually looking pretty good. I have faith that as more corruption surfaces on these three jackholes the goal will be met.
Again, thank you Bruce for standing strong. 🙂
See you guys Saturday. 😉
McKinley: “I look at these pictures of Kelly Thomas,” McKinley says in an even voice, “and I’m as appalled as anybody else.”
(“But facial injuries do not cause death. Facial injuries do not cause death.”)
Of District Attorney Tony Rackauckas’ detailed news conference last month, McKinley says he was shocked at the details but felt the description of events helped people.
(MY ASS you were shocked at Tony Rackauckas’ news conference; you saw the video the day after it happed you ‘bald-headed candy-ass’!)
disclaimer: No offense to any other folically-challenged. Just a quote from ‘The Rock’.
THE FIX IS IN.
The media covers what sells. It is ultimately up to those of us that live here to push for the changes that need to be made; we need to force it so that other communities follow suit.
P.S I busted Dana up yesterday and she said that she will be there on Saturday…let’s see if she is a woman of her word.
OCR is not media..just like the Fullerton Observer. their motivations can’t be trusted.
whitaker states info released by fullerton’s city manager and fullerton police chief sellers “extremely misleading” and “false police reports” . whitaker strongly alludes other persons outside of the fullerton police department engaged in supplying lies to him and the public about the beating death of kelly thomas. would that other person not officially a member of the fullerton police department be current city council member and ex fullerton police chief pat mckinley who is supplying and promoting lies about the kelly thomas death to the public and to whitaker? but I know the truth will be heard and seen with the help of pat mckinley’s good old colleague who now heads fullerton’s task force on the homeless and the mentally ill, rusty kennedy.
yeah stop blocking a major street. I cant believe the city of fullerton allowed this. And all you haters did was bad mouth the police department and city hall. Shame on them for allowing this circus to continue.
No wonder KFI was there Tony Bushala is business partner with John or Ken..who is it? Now I know why they are for the recall.
“Tony Bushala is business partner with John or Ken..who is it? Now I know why they are for the recall.”
What idiot told you that? Dick Ackerman or Andrew Goodlie?
Highland is not a major street. however closing it for an anti-police protest is a major embarrassment to FPD!
Can someone explain what Bruce said in that interview? Can someone tell me what facts he presented?
After all that hot air and alledging police reports were falsified he said he’s never seen them? WTF?
That’s a serious allegation that the police falsified reports. You better have some facts to back that up Bruce. Something other than your belief. I think Bruce showed his true colors in that interview. You have no respect for your the city you serve. Will you issue an apology when you find out there was no cover up?
Do the citzens a favor and step down now.
Not that hard to figure out. The cops told him it was a “scuffle.” Turns out it was a murder.
Bad information. Intentional, in fact.
Yeah Brucie baby you are gonna eat your words as your ass is kicked out of that council chambers..take Sharon Quirk with you!!
Did any of the reports mention a murder? If not, they are inaccurate.
This is for chicken, post #106
After fucking them, you wrote , “you better be prepared’….prepared for what?
To whom it may concern {possibly Travis Kiger}
When I posted my comments about an hour ago, it came in as #174, but now that I rechecked it, it came in as #176, but posts 174 and 175 are showing October 20th. [mine was posted today Oct 21st 1;10pm pst]
Very well said.
Ron Thomas was not the one instrumental in getting the ball rolling, it was Tony Bushala..get it right.
Ron Thomas is not a good man, he is a greedy man. He is only after his fifteen minutes… Oh yes and of course his twenty million dollars.
Do you honestly think that if Ron Thomas wouldn’t spend anythime in Fullerton looking out for his son, a homeless boy who needed his help, that he will come to Fullerton now “just to help out.” ??? Come on everybody… get real. It’s all about the money.
sigh….
Kelly Thomas was a 37 year old adult man!!
Sitting on a bench minding his own business!!
Living his life exactly how he wanted too!!
Still Love F: Surely you jest! If you think Kelly was living his life as he chose, you are really out of touch. He may have been a 37 year old man in body, but he still needed to be loved and cared for as a young schizophrenic man. His family was not there for him. Ron knew how Kelly was living and did nothing to change that. No help, no love, no food, no clothes, no family contact. Ron may not have been able to do anything about Kelly taking medication but he could have done something about his life style. How about a meal once in a while? Huh? Can you explain that one? Why did Kelly have to steal and eat garbage? Can you explain that one? Why was he not wearing the proper clothing when he was detained? Can you explain that too?
Why is Ron now all fired up to help the homeless when he did nothing before and is blaming the FPD for “NOT UNDERSTANDtNG” when they came into contact with his schizophrenic son? Why? Because now there is money involved.
My heart tightens everytime I think about Kelly living on the streets the way he did, and I am involved in this matter in a way that may surprise you.
So please… whoever said Ron was a good man spare us. He is not!!! Again I say it’s all about the money. Follow the money!!!
At least Tony B. is honest about his motives.
following the money leads to the cover up hoping to ameliorate claims. the family is getting paid but watching you squirm is priceless spirochete. that,s a worm pigs get, (i’m trying to be unique with my insults, thanks for another opening)
Anonymous: Did you mean Sharon Quack? Jus wondering.
Whitaker is the lone voice of reason on the city council!
Did I miss a memo? I was not aware that there were rules as to what to wear when being detained…can you please provide me with the proper attire for being detained? Thanks.