Brand spanking new interim Police Chief Kevin Hamilton got his name in the paper today, but not in a good way. In an LA Times story Hamilton admits that the goon squad that killed Kelly Thomas on the night of July 5th watched the subsequently top-secret video as they cooked up their “official” reports. Rather than decry this methodology that permitted the killers to get their story straight, Hamilton claims the exercise helped them “refresh” their memories. Of course the Inspector General of the LAPD completely disagrees with this tactic.
Hey, say what?!
Have we not been told for weeks now by people like former police chief/current councilman Pat McKinley as well as our Do Nothing DA Tony Rackauckas that the video cannot be released because it might “taint” the memories of potential witnesses?
So let’s see if I’ve got this straight: video refreshes cop memory; video taints witness memory. Got it?
Hamilton, who admits to having watched the video, also characterizes the incident as a significant “struggle.” Hmm. Well, that’s an improvement on “tussle,” but it makes you wonder what kind of damage it would have taken to cause the new Chief to utter the words: “lethal gang ass kicking.”
And so it appears as if our newly minted chief’s first contact with the media was a load of horse manure.