Yes, it would appear so. CNN is reporting today yet another instance of wrongful arrest and brutality by our friends at the FPD. The case involves assault and phony DUI arrest for which there was no basis.
Of course the purported victim, Edward Miguel Quinonez, has a lawyer: Garo Mardirossian. Geez, Garo may as well open up a Fullerton office. Here is KCAL passing along the news:
UPDATE: FYI, KCAL WE INTERVIEWED THIS WITNESS AND POSTED IT ON AUGUST 8 – 5 WEEKS AGO! HERE’S THE LINK.
The Kelly Thomas Memorial Concert and Canned Food Drive will remember Kelly with a day of music and donations that will draw attention to the thousands of destitute, whom our cities remain blind to or worse, ill-treat through willful ignorance and neglect. In partnership with Ron Thomas and the Kelly Thomas Memorial Fund (recently founded in memory of his son), the event hopes to open the eyes of Orange County to the alarming growth in its homeless population and just how few resources our cities have to help treat this social epidemic.
Eric Bootow, bassist for fullerton-based Sederra, was inspired by the tragic events of July 5th to put this show together. By reaching out to the Thomas family and his fellow musicians in Fullerton, the show quickly materialized and has since gathered massive support from all over SoCal. The event promises to have upwards of a thousand in attendance with Ron Thomas (who will be speaking) and family also in attendance.
Where: Fullerton Downtown Plaza (125 E. Wilshire Avenue Fullerton, CA 92832)
When: 3pm-8pm on Sept 17, 2011
Music: Sederra, Julian Porte, New Skool Kings, John Paget, 80 Proof, Mr Mirainga and Robert Gupta of the LA Philharmonic
How People Can Help: Donations, canned goods and clothing and will be accepted during the event.
UPDATE #2: WE LAST RE-RAN THIS 2008 POST BACK ON MARCH 25TH, 2011. THEN IT WAS JUST FUNNY. NOW, WITH THE ABUSE AND PERJURY IN THE VETH MAM CASE, AND OF COURSE THE MURDER OF KELLY THOMAS, IT BECOMES A HELL OF A LOT MORE SINISTER.
OUT OF CONTROL COPS IN DOWNTOWN FULLERTON ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF AN OUT OF CONTROL, OPEN AIR BOOZE COURT DELIBERATELY CREATED BY THE THREE BLIND MICE – JONES, BANKHEAD, AND McKINLEY.
DON’T BELIEVE IT? JUST LISTEN TO JONES’ OWN ADMISSION OF FAILURE. THE CREATION OF AN NIGHTLY INSANE ASYLUM IN DTF REQUIRED A GESTAPO TO CONTROL IT.
PLEASE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THIS WILL FEATURE PROMINENTLY IN THE RECALL CAMPAIGN. LET THEM EXPLAIN HEEHAW’S OWN WORDS.
— Joe Sipowicz
UPDATE: WHILE CLEANING OUT THE DUSTY CORNERS OF THE FFFF CYBERSTORAGE BIN I STUMBLED UPON THIS TRANSLUCENT JONES GEM. TOO GOOD NOT TO SHARE AGAIN. ENJOY DOC HEE HAW AS HE EXPLAINS THE MESS HE’S MADE OF DOWNTOWN FULLERTON. OF COURSE HE DOESN’T TELL US HOW MUCH PUBLIC MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT MAKING A VERY FEW PEOPLE WEALTHY.
NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE DOWNTOWN FULLERTON KLEPTOCRACY LOVES OL’ PHOGBOUND SO MUCH.
– Joe Sipowicz
Enjoy the crazy ramblings of the Fullerton City Council’s own Doc Phogbound – wonderful nuggets of nonsense strung out like pearls on a necklace. How many times can one individual abuse the baby and the bath water metaphor? Start counting.
Even after all his breast beating about the out-of-control monster he created, he still votes to subsidize the bootleg night clubs.
Now it’s thirteen years – and counting.
We all know why the right leaning Bushala blog, Friends for Fullerton’s Future and KFI radio hosts Jon & Ken are capitalizing on the murder of Kelly Thomas, and that is because, at least in part, they hate the police unions. Regardless of their motives, they are correct on this issue, and they, unlike you, are bringing attention to it. With the exception of current councilperson Sharon Quirk-Silva, who was the first to ask for resignations, and a well respected CSUF Professor, who have seen at the protest, so many of you established liberals, have an almost disinterest in the killing of a homeless man. The question is: Why? You are the royal opposition in this Republican demographic, we count on you, and yet on this one you decided to stay home.
Work demands have prevented me from hanging out with you lately, so please forgive me if I am wrong, but I’m not detecting any outrage at the actions of the police from most of you. I usually turn to you for leadership on a dozen other issues, but I don’t see that leadership here. I’m sure you are upset, but what seems to upset you the most is the fear that things will get disorderly, or that Fullerton’s image is soiled; not that one of the most vulnerable members of our community was killed by having his face beaten into hamburger by six of our police officers. I understand that you did your demo stuff in the sixties and that you still hate Nixon, but that check’s been cashed. I also understand that outrage on its own does not effect change, but sometimes an incident is so vile and so brutal, that to my mind one can’t help but get emotional about it. I’ve been to all but one of the protests in front of the police station and all of the council meetings since the killing. I’ve looked for you and wanted to say hello. Where were you?
Long before we came creeping up your north Fullerton hills and joined you in the nicely paved part of town, my wife and I rented an apartment atop one of the downtown shops on Wilshire Boulevard. As someone who still spends a lot of time downtown, and someone who does not take a wide berth of the homeless, I was acquainted with Kelly Thomas. After the homicide, the story that was spun about Kelly by city officials was downright ridiculous to everyone that knew him. What the police did not count on in this case was that his father was a former sheriff, or that Kelly was not just another eyesore. Kelly was actually liked by many in the downtown community. I tell you this only because you do your mingling at backyard fundraisers on Skyline Drive and in this part of town people like Kelly Thomas could not walk two blocks before someone’s maid was told to call the cops.
There are some left-leaning Fullerton residents like Jesse LaTour and Jane Rand, who are present in the Justice for Kelly movement, but you consider these folks to be too fringe to support anyway don’t you? The votes from the last election show that many of you opted for Bankhead. In light of this I would now argue that most of you are not really liberals, progressives or leftists anyway; you are just pro-bedroom community. After everything the police and city officials have done here, you are more comfortable advocating for bike paths, making sure your neighbors have period appropriate door knobs, and attempting to prevent development. I like bike paths, and I don’t want 760 homes built in Coyote Hills either, but that spying on your neighbor’s stuff in search of historical inaccuracies is a bourgeois wank. These things need to take a back seat while our city is still in the shadow of a murder and an ongoing, official stonewall. I’m an environmentalist, but if I was in Birmingham Alabama in 1963 after four little girls were blown to bits because of the color of their skin, my efforts to clean up the local swimming hole would have taken a back seat to my demands for justice. I suggest you do the same.
As a reminder this is why the actions of at least six of our police officers, and any number of city officials, is worthy of your usual scorn and attention:
- Our police department allowed the officers that committed this homicide to watch the video of the killing and script their report as if they were scoring a movie.
- It took a month and a lot of public outrage (what you call a mob) before five of the six cops were put on administrative leave.
- They were only put on administrative leave.
- After the homicide, the police proceeded to rape Kelly’s memory by pinning convenient and false charges around his crushed neck.
- Dick Jones is being Dick Jones.
- I pray this never happens, but you must know that if six homeless men were charged with beating one police officer in the same spot where Kelly Thomas cried out for his father, the tape of the “incident” would have been released to the public shortly thereafter, and the round up of all untidy pedestrians in Fullerton would have been on.
Kelly Thomas was most likely murdered for being confused. His confusion was perceived as disrespect and non compliance, and six giant dimwitted egos with clubs and badges lost control. Why does this not upset you? Why does this no longer resonate with you? Which of the following best describes the reason for your inaction?
a) The Fox news crowd was correct about you. Too many of you liberals are, in fact, elitist. If you are asked to compost your refuse, or to donate to the library, you are on board. If, however, you are asked to stand in the sun and risk offending powerful and armed individuals that police our community, it’s best that we remain calm and wait for the authorities to get to the bottom of it.
b) You are white and mostly affluent. The police have always called you sir and madam, and you would prefer that we sacrifice a few dingy homeless to the nightstick than have Fullerton perceived as a safe haven for the homeless.
c) You are cowards. It’s one thing to try to regulate the actions of some jerky developers with hideous Miami Mansion dreams bouncing around in their greedy heads, but it’s another to stand in front of armed police officers and demand that they do the right thing.
d) You falsely believe that something as horrible as this could never happen to your son or daughter
e) And finally – no issue, apparently even police corruption and the murder of an unarmed skinny homeless man, would dare allow you, my fellow privileged Fullerton liberals, to ever be on the same side of an issue as an opportunist like Tony Bushala.
My hope is that after checking off one or more of the above, that you do a little reflecting and then come join the rest of us, of all political stripes, in front of the Police Station and in council chambers for Kelly Thomas. You may find that demanding justice for those who normally do not have a voice is just like riding a bike.
Respectfully,
Steve Baxter
Fullerton, CA
In the past I have had very little love for FFFF, as I feel that this blog is equal parts, reward/vendetta, as it is political advocacy. This time, however, we are on the same side, and I greatly appreciate the continue attention that FFFF is bringing to Kelly’s Thomas’s brutal beating and murder. I am happy to stand side by side with anyone who wants those responsible for Kelly’s murder as well as the subsequent obstruction by city officials, to be held accountable. For me at least this rises above politics. In this instance I would like to say KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
Unchained Melody…
And what they are saying is pretty pathetic.
Yahoo News led off today with the doings in little Fullerton, California, here, related to the stories of police brutality against Veth Mam and of course, Kelly Thomas. Here’s somebody called Mike Ritto, President of the Downtown Business Association, moaning about the hurt put on local retailers:
“They’re telling people, ‘Don’t go to Fullerton.’ Nobody here did anything wrong. Why should the retailers suffer?” said Ritto, speaking of the protesters who have packed public forums and marched outside the police station every Saturday for a month.
Ahem. Nobody here did anything wrong? Why should the retailers suffer? Uh, dunno, Mike. Maybe it’s the bad karma associated with devil’s deal downtown Fullerton has made with an out of control police force.
Naturally we hear from FPD spokeszit Andrew Goodrich, who, inexplicably, remains spokeszit despite a string of lies and half-truths that would have made a NAZI Ministry of Propaganda functionary’s heart sing:
Goodrich, the police spokesman, said allegations that the officers in the Mam case perjured themselves were false because they believed when they testified that they had arrested the right person.
Oh, really? False charges of perjury? Really, Andy? You really want to go there? Of course the charges are perfectly true; either that or your union pals are so f-ing incompetent that they belong in institutionalized care somewhere. Which is it?
And here is Deputy DA Rebecca Reed, casually explaining that the whole Mam story told by the cops was pluasible:
“I thought it was reasonable that Veth Mam had been involved in this altercation before filming,” she said. “The video did not show the whole story.”
Say what? No, Becky, the laws of time and space were not suddenly suspended by the evil Mam. What she meant to say was: “we are told to go along with the cops story, no matter how ludicrous it might be; we have no compunction about charging and prosecuting an innocent man; we don’t give a damn about justice; my only concern is that this loss is going to hurt my record.”
From the very beginning of the Kelly Thomas beating death at the hands, Tasers, fist and feet of the Fullerton Police Department, that department’s spokeshole, Sergeant Andrew Goodrich told the public that the fateful incident was intiated with a phone call: a phone call to the dispatcher stating that somebody was breaking into cars in the vicinity of the Transportation Center.
From the get go, the story sounded absurd to people who knew Kelly Thomas and who averred that Thomas wasn’t violent or a thief. And of course to a public that has come to understand that Sergeant Goodrich seems incapable of telling the smallest bit of truth, the idea that there was a call at all became a matter of doubt.
Tellingly, the police have issued no information about this mysterious phone call and who made it, and so far they have given no indication that they have the slightest iota of evidence that anybody was breaking into cars at all.
This is important, because it lends credence to the idea that the phone call, if there was one, was made in collaboration with the police themselves. This could implicate both caller and cops in a conspiracy. A conspiracy to do what? Since the result of the incident was the bludgeoning death of a harmless man, that question is almost to horrible to contemplate. But at the very least the facts lead to the reasonable deduction that the conspiracy, if it existed, was meant to deprive Kelly Thomas of his civil rights – a violation of the First, Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right, to be specific.
Of course making a false report to the police is some sort of crime (although Goodrich has yet to make an honest report to the public, which seems to be A-OK to his higher ups and the City Council). So somebody should be in big trouble for that alone.
Was there a call? If so, who made the call and why? I don’t know, but I admonish the Do-nothing DA and the Federal investigators to find out. You can bet Ron Kelly’s attorney Garo Mardirossian and his investigators will. Soon.
Time to come clean.
This weekend one of our Friends caught up with Mayor Dick Jones as he was exiting the library gala. This fellow was one of the folks protesting the police beating of Kelly Thomas a few hundred feet away. Apparently the protesters wanted the Chief, or anybody in authority, really, to make a public statement on the issue.
And so our mayor offered us this elegant excuse for the city’s stonewalling, before shuffling off to his vehicle: “You don’t start talkin’ about things if you’re trying to get the answer.”