Stopping The Assault: Public Vengeance for Kelly Thomas
By: Whitney Hill
January 20, 2014
Very few words can sum up
my disgust. My hatred. My anger. And with all the emotions that rise to the
tipping point of what my consciousness can handle, I am left physically
recoiling from the very thought of our police, nay political state. Endlessly
questioning on when our cops became the true parody of Dredd,
winning the tittles of Judge, Jury and Executioner. What powers have we as an
American people given up to be ruled by fear and abused by authority? If our
governed figureheads, time after time, choose to make examples of citizens for
petty crimes, then why doesn't the unlawful murder at the hands of a cop weigh
in the same? Why do we settle on only blaming the cop and not the departments
that employ, teach and train them? Surely the Commissioners, Chief Of Police
and Legislatures who issue leniency and minimum repercussions towards their own
in uniform, gravely affect the outcome of how the following officers carry
themselves - conduct their duties.
But alas, I am getting
ahead of myself. Frustration in the fingers taking over a taught mollified
mind. The beginning and end of this train of thought solely deals with the
media and the corporal mistreating of Kelly Thomas. Admittedly, I wonder if
maybe I’m only scratching the surface of what consists in this corrupt system.
For those of you who are
not aware of the case, Kelly Thomas was a 37 year old, homeless - schizophrenic
who was relentlessly taserd and beaten by six Fullerton, California police
officers in the Summer of 2011. He unfortunately passed away five days later
from the broken bones in his face, and by asphyxiating on his own blood. The
coroner would later reveal that Mr. Thomas’s thorax was also compressed which
resulted in his brain being deprived of oxygen. If you can stomach the 30
minute surveillance video that captured the whole altercation between Mr.
Thomas and the officers, notably Manuel Ramos, Joseph Wolfe and Corporal Jay
Cicinelli, you will be heartbroken to witness a man, calling out for the mercy and aid of his father and God, while a gang of unprovoked police pummel him to his eventual demise.
With heavy media coverage
that circulated the video evidence of the altercation and pictures that
documented the physical damage of Mr. Thomas, the public demanded reparation.
The offending Officer Manuel Ramos was charged with one count second-degree
murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter, while Joseph Wolfe and Jay
Cicinelli were both charged with one count felony of involuntary manslaughter
and one count of excessive force. On January 13, 2014, however, in a succession
of disappointing events, a judge dismissed all charges, an appeals court judge
denied a request to overturn the lower court's decision and a district attorney
announced that the case will not be pursued. We are persuaded to believe that
justice was served.
Now tell me, please, if
the tables were slightly different and this was a senseless beating of a
homeless person by a regular citizen, what would have
ultimately happened to that offender? Better yet, lets examine an
actual incident that occurred on December 31, 2013. In Hawaii, a 16 year-old
and his friends beat to death the 62 year-old homeless Anthony Montero. One of the unnamed teens was
arrested and charged with manslaughter. The likelihood that the charges will be
dropped is highly unlikely.
If we cast our gaze to the
sensationalism that thrives in the veins of the media, we will see a bias pulse
that determines what does and does not make national headlines. After all, the
media is in the business to make money. Taking an unobstructed look at the
Kelly Thomas case, several points need to be made about how the press reported
the surrounding events.
1. Due to the harping
captions of the media, the identity of Kelly Thomas was reduced to the labels
of 'Homeless' and 'Schizophrenic'. Therefore, who he truly was before his
devastating demise, is flattened out by his mental illness and financial status
– he was sick and homeless before he was a person, or at least that’s what need
to be strongly pandered, less ratings falter. Alas, the last emotional tune
that plays for this mans life, is pity and one-sided anger towards the corrupt
politics of police officers.
But why isn't the media
also questioning the dismal state of mental health institutions within
California? Surely it can be argued that senseless attacks such as those of Mr.
Thomas and Mr. Montero could be avoided – an officer would never be called to
make contact or be called - if there were proper inpatient care for the overall
30% of chronically homeless Americans who also have mental illnesses[1].
Of which 5.4% (or 1.3 million) are Californians[2].
In fact, comparison statistics show that in 1955, there was one psychiatric bed
per 300 Americans compared to the alarming one psychiatric bed per every 3,000
Americans in 2005. The last time the state of mental inpatient treatment was in
such a dismal state was in 1850, when there was only one psychiatric bed per
5,000 Americans.[3]
California Mental Health
stats report, "Individuals that have disabling mental illness and are
homeless are incarcerated often for nuisance and petty crimes but when offered
comprehensive community based treatment and safe housing – the incarceration
and homeless rate drops to less than 2%.” Currently 10-20% of California's
incarcerated suffer from some mental illness.[4]
So once again, the copious
quantities of questions still remain. If it has been continually and
statistically shown that the current system that has been set up for mental
health care and treatment within California, let alone the US:
A. Is wrongfully
incarcerating rather then treating citizens with mental health concerns
B. Is increasing the
homeless population
C. Is steamrolling over
the number of people who are actively seeking mental health care
D. Putting Police Officers
in comprising situations that might end in flawed decisions
E. Is overall, not
effective
...then how come our
government is not addressing these concerns? How come the media is not
reporting this injustice? Why are deaf ears the only ones listening to this
furor?
Earlier, when I asked why
we settle on only blaming the cop and not the departments that employ, teach
and train them? The pointed blame in fact falls squarely on both the
comprehensive police force and the US politicians. Indeed, one hand washes the
other, rather than leads by example. If our own government blatantly ignores
and belittles its mentally ill and poor citizens, then why would its lawful
enforcers treat them any better? Are these the weak-valued, authoritative
puppeteers we really want to rely on?
Now before the ol’
bug-a-boo complaint of tax payer money enters the equation, let me point out
that according to the 2002 Department of Health report, "currently it
costs [California] about $40,000 per year to treat a person with disabling
mental illness in a state prison and approximately $120,000 per year for
treatment in a hospital. It costs as little as $10,000 per year for treatment
through a community based mental health program."[5]
Certainly, broken systems are usually more expensive to maintain. I'll let that
sink in for a moment.
2. I am bemused by the
notion on whether or not the judge’s dismal of Mr. Thomas’s case will play on
the medias mind past this Sunday. Of course the news is always changing; there
is always something fresh to report. And so we are lead to believe that such
utter disrespect, harassment and cold murder of the homeless only happens once
in a while.
We are fooled. According to a 2010 report from the
National Collation for the Homeless, the numbers of violent acts reported were
113 followed by 89 non-lethal attacks and 24 fatal ones.[6]
Broken down, the
statistical percentages of non-lethal attacks were as follows:
Beatings: 50%
Assault w/ Deadly Weapon: 37%
Shootings: 5%
Rapes/Sexual Assaults: 3%
Multimedia Exploitation: 2%
Harassment: 2%
Setting Victim on Fire: 1%
Keep in mind, that a
majority of these committed hate crimes are from the general public and that
since 1999, there have more then a thousand reported attacks against the
homeless.[8]
All is not lost
though. There has been some traction in the government to squelch these types
of hate crimes. In a sadly ironic twist, in 2004, California passed a law
mandating police officer training on hate crimes against the homeless - all
cops are to watch a two-hour video educating them on how to better serve the
itinerant community. Loosing traction, in 2011, California drafted legislation
AB 312[9] and AB 2706[10], which allowed for a homeless individual to sue for higher damages if
the attack was motivated by hate. Subsequently, both were vetoed by Governors
Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
On a national level,
on April 15, 2011, the then preceding Washington State Legislature signed a law
that included homelessness to a list of aggravating factors for hate crime
examination. In all, this permits judges to impose harsher sentences on
offenders.[11]
However, steadily
ignoring that this law was the belated response to a slaying of David
Ballenger, a homeless 46 year-old man, which actually occurred in 1999 - 12
years earlier. He, like Mr. Montero, was murdered by a group of teenagers who
proceeded to beat, choke and stab him up to 18 times. All but one of the
offenders is already out of jail.[12]
I call into question
the contradictory nature of these laws. Looking at statistics, it seems curious
on whether these laws are even being strongly enforced. California officers are
specially trained to delicately deal with the homeless population, while judges
are allowed to impose harsher sentences for vagrant hate crimes/deaths. Yet for
Mr. Kelly Thomas, a death at the hands of officers that could have been easily
prevented or at the very least, retributive by sentencing his killers to
justice, there is nothing. No media to continually report and question these
slaughtered atrocities of human life. No enforced action from our government to
fix this broken, cyclical system.
It pains me to admit
that history has played the same soulless refrain for the homeless and mentally
ill. Two communities that have had to valiantly fight for equal rights and
justice, for a voice, only to be shattered by the public hand when combined
into one preventable group. Few eyes are there to acknowledge their existence;
few backs are there for support and protection. I can’t help but look at my
neighbor and question why they think they are above the inevitable change of
wind that comes with life. As long as you walk this earth, having a mental
illness, being physically disabled or in poor health, can never be avoided. Our
minds and bodies do what they please; life itself, does what it please. No
level of ignoring those who seek help will ever prevent the future tides from
landing you in a similar predicament. So why, I ask, do we disregard, shame,
hate, abuse and punish those who are in a different state of being as us? When
that time comes for us, may it be old age, mental health, disability,
joblessness, homelessness or all of the above, I hope that mercy and
understanding will be granted to those who have cast their eyes down on their
fellow man. That a tender heart will be there for your mother, father, family
and friends who have fallen and called for help from strangers. We cannot let
fear of authority stop us from seeking justice from the corrupt.
Finally, I dare not lump every officer,
politician and the every-man who have given themselves to the higher cause of
universal human preservation against the sycophantic loons of selfishness and barbarianism.
These are the voices that will construct societies roots towards change. These
are the individuals who will help undo the disparaging labels that have been
woefully dropped on the differently able and financially hardshipped alike. For
the uncorrupt and kind hearted amongst us, lets never forget the injustice of
the Kelly Thomas’s who’ve been beaten down in our society. We fight for them.
We invoke change for them.
If you
live in California, find and contact your State Senator for justice and
equality here
For additional
information, watch 60 Minutes ‘Cook County sheriff tells 60 Minutes 'prisons
are new insane asylums' here.
Read more at www.Sporkability.org
[10]
[10]ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/0910/bill/asm/ab_27012750/ab_2706_cfa_20100818_105847_sen_floor.html
[10]ftp://leginfo.public.ca.gov/pub/0910/bill/asm/ab_27012750/ab_2706_cfa_20100818_105847_sen_floor.html
