Kelly Thomas, 37, was a homeless schizophrenic transient wandering the streets of Orange County, California.  He was described as "very quiet and polite," "gentle and a childlike," "sweet," and "never a threat” by residents.  Until July 5th where Fullerton police officers surrounded him and beat him to death.

Police responded to a report that someone had been breaking into cars in the local Fullerton neighborhood where Thomas was seen standing.  Claiming that he was “resisting arrest” Fullerton police wound up beating the unarmed Kelly Thomas to an unrecognizable pulp before he fell into a coma and subsequently died. In a video of the event, uploaded to Youtube, you can hear Kelly’s gut-wrenching screams and cries for his father while onlookers beg police to stop the beating and tasering that would lead him to his death.

"They kept beating him and Tasering him. I could hear zapping, and he wasn't even moving," said Mark Turgeon, who witnessed the beating. "He had one arm in front of him like this, he wasn't resisting. And they kept telling him, 'He's resisting, quit resisting,' and he wasn't resisting."

A truly horrific photo of Thomas in his hospital bed has surfaced on the internet. His eyes are swollen shut. His face beaten so severely that one can scarcely tell that the bloody mess before them was even human to begin with. The officers involved are already back on the streets.

"It was gang-involved, the way I see it, a gang of rogue officers who brutally beat my son to death," said Thomas' father Ron Thomas, himself a former Orange County Sheriff's Department deputy.  Now Ron Thomas says he feels betrayed, and embarrassed to ever have been affiliated with law enforcement.

Naturally police are cooperating with the Orange County DA’s office as they conduct their investigation. Too bad that isn’t saying much.

“[Fullerton police chief ] Michael Sellers and his wife Rita Fraser-Sellers, are close personal friends with [investigator Stan] Berry and his wife, Kristen Berry, the Dispatch Supervisor in Seal Beach. They socialize together, vacation together and entertain each other in their respective homes.  Of all the DA investigators, why choose Berry, other than he will help cover for his friend.”

The city already tried to muzzle family with a settlement check for a measly $900,000. A city official said that they would have offered more but their son was "no rocket scientist." Thankfully Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson has sent a request to the FBI to look into the incident and now the Bureau is said to have launched a formal investigation.

"[I] Can't even begin to explain the loss of a son. I just want to see him again. I want to hold him. It's just not fair," said Thomas' mother , Cathy Thomas.

Life behind the Orange Curtain continues…

(Source: KABC)