A video taken by a friend of California artist Thomas Flournoy who was beaten by officers with the Santa Rosa Police Department during a violent arrest for obstructing officers following a local event. Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney Andrew Lukas has reportedly requested that a judge produce a court order to demand the removal of this video from YouTube. Lukas claims that the video depicts a “limited view” of the incident and could cause a bias among potential jurors. We have re-uploaded the video and and are making he original MP4 file available for download so that others may share the video as they wish.
Tag Archive for Police Brutality
California
Graphic Photo of Kelly Thomas Victim of Fullerton Police Brutality
A photo of a 37-year-old schizophrenic homeless man named Kelly Thomas that was taken in the hospital by his father Ron Thomas, a former Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy. Thomas was fatally beaten by Fullerton Police officers on July 5, 2011 following attempts to search his backpack due to reports of someone “looking into cars” in the area. Multiple videos of the beating exist, including surveillance footage that has yet to be released by the Orange County District Attorney, and a large number of witnesses have come forward confirming the extremely excessive use of force by the six officers that were attempting to subdue Thomas. One officer in particular was reportedly responsible for beating Thomas repeatedly in the back of the head with a Taser until Thomas began to bleed profusely, as well as dropping his knee against the back of Thomas’ head leading to fractures in his face and the crushing of his windpipe. This officer has been identified as Jay Cicinelli, a former LAPD officer who was shot within weeks of leaving the academy and now only has one eye. The beating is now being investigated by the FBI.