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Frederick Leatherman Law Blog 
Another great photo from Saturday’s protest that’s circulating on Twitter today
And this was likely the other vandalism arrest. https://twitter.com/TrialBeat/status/424947598722469888/photo/1
Thanks very much for keeping us informed about what’s been going on in the streets since the vile verdict.
Please keep up the good work.
Thanks for giving us a forum to report in!
By keeping an eye on #Fullerton #FullertonOp, #KellyThomas and #Justice4KellyThomas on Twitter, you can keep up with what’s happening in Fullerton.
There were some protestors out and about yesterday and people still getting snatched up and arrested, mostly by plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles.
Patti Beers, the citizen journalist wrongfully arrested for filming officers at Kelly’s Corner on Saturday night, was released from jail yesterday.
There’s a town council meeting in Fullerton on Tuesday at 6 PM (the town hall is right next door to the PD). There should be many citizens concerned with the case there.Police Chief Dan Hughes has pledged to not re-hire Cicinelli, but there will be a big citizen push at the Council and concerns probably expressed also about Wolfe, the 3rd cop who was to be prosecuted later, as well as the other three cops on the force who participated the night of Kelly’s beating and were never disciplined or fired. Probably some concerns expressed about how the PD handled the protest on Saturday too.
As far as I know, there will also be more picketing at the PD or in the general vicinity.
Likely this was one of the protestors arrested for vandalism. https://twitter.com/TrialBeat/status/424946515212107779/photo/1
It’s hard to tell who is a legitimate protestor and who might be an undercover cop provocateur. Most people agree that there were likely provocateurs in the crowd, trying to sully the peaceful protestors in the minds of the public.
The plainclothes officers in unmarked vehicles also pose as provocateurs or protestors at times. One such officer sat in an unmarked pickup truck in back of the PD blaring loud music. I believe he also drove through the crowd a few times, honking in support. The pictures of Fullerton’s unmarked vehicles have circulated around FB and Twitter, so everyone knows what color, make, and model these are.
This is kind of the view I had of the riot squad, only from the other end of the line!
https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23KellyThomas
Better view
Ah, forgot to mention that a few of the cops wore rubber gloves and some didn’t in their now infamous show of force in Fullerton Saturday afternoon
Don’t know if that was to aggravate protestors, but it looked provocative – you recall Ramos putting on gloves in the 30-minute video of the incident with Kelly Thomas in which he says, “See this fist? It’s getting ready to eff you up.”
Here’s a quick vid of the scuffle between a camerawoman and a protestor in Fullerton that supposedly spawned the big show of force that looked meticulously planned.
About five minutes ago, Anonymous pulled down Fullerton PD site in response to protestor arrests
http://hackread.com/anonymous-takes-down-fullerton-police-website-against-arrest/
They managed to keep it down for about 20 minutes.
Protestors are now commenting on an NBC site, claiming that the reporter swung on a protestor first. Sounds very plausible to me from what I could see. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/kelly-thomas-protest-fullerton-arrests-241038811.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_645406478849893_6144669_645410368849504#f26b3ecef15ce36
There’s a YouTube video that clearly shows the camera person shoving the protester and the protester shoving back. Hope she can beat her assault charge with the video.
Word on the street is, someone got arrested for taking this shot
http://twitpic.com/dspe90
Here’s one view of the 4 PM confrontation – with armored vehicle. There was one guy with some sort of a bazooka type weapon.
The Patti Beers arrest photo. I rushed between the cars the same way she did, almost into the arms of the cops – I turned back, but she rushed ipast me to record them. By the way, the raids at Kelly’s Corner tonight were raids – police never told people to disperse. They drove up, jumped out of cars, and stalked people.
http://ow.ly/i/4kxdu
Here’s the banner that was tied to window at the Fullerton police station – and was the only spray painting that I saw, LOL!
https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23KellyThomas
Better view
Some of the best videos that give a neutral-ish take on what today’s rally was like is linked below.
Ignore the mainstream media – though they report that the police responded to violence, it had to be a mostly planned show of force because it wasn’t just Fullerton police SWAT who lined the streets and kettled the remaining protestors – there were officers and cars from other PD in Orange County. I had just turned to leave because I’d been there since early morning and was good and tired, when the SWAT teams ran out in riot gear and formed a square around the intersection. They put on a big show for about an hour, allowing people to leave in only two directions. I retreated to a safe, unprovocative distance to watch.
Some kids who had marched down to Kelly’s Corner before the big rush returned from that direction, and there was some sort of confrontation that resulted in arrests. I couldn’t see much but figures dashing about and some yelling. Police claim there was an assault on a reporter before the kettling- but all I could see of it was some yelling. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, but an assault may be an exaggeration.
I did see clearly, about an hour before the police declared an illegal assembly, someone pull open the door of a police vehicle from another town who passed through the protest, a really stupid move, I thought, and when the police drama began, I thought that incident had sparked it.
The media is reporting that someone spray painted a revolutionary symbol on one side of the PD – which I didn’t see, but some kids tied up a protest banner on one of the windows early on. At any rate, a bit of spray paint isn’t exactly a big deal. I’ve not seen a single photo of this and likely we won’t ever see one or know for sure that this really happened. I did see a kid spraypaint an electrical box on a corner diagonally across from the PD.
After the police retreated from the intersection, I went to Kelly’s Corner to see what was going on there – perhaps 25 or so people there, and very soon after I arrived, two random raids by police – or what appeared to be random raids – perhaps they targeted kids who had done something earlier. During the second raid, an older alternative media reporter from Los Angeles rushed into the fray, recording cops with her iPhone, and they dragged her away. Hearsay has it that the police had chased people around in various areas around downtown wherever they saw people walking with protest signs, some more than mile away from the original protest site. I’m sure a number of young people walked, bicycled, skateboarded. or rode buses to the protest.
At about 7 PM, the remaining crowd at Kelly’s corner decided to go back to the PD, which I didn’t think was a great idea considering the earlier show of force. I eventually went over there in my vehicle to look, and the youngsters were simply standing on the sidewalk with signs and light traffic going past, and people honking here and there, just as it’s been every evening since the Monday verdict.
Haven’t heard yet whether there will be any more large rallies – the original intent was to have them each Saturday through 2-1. The slanted media reports that make it seem as if the event disintegrated into dreadful violence – LOL – and this will probably discourage many mainstream folks from coming out.
Kelly’s father was present when the police kettled the protestors and he tried to talk to them. I was able to speak to him for a moment late in the afternoon and to Kelly’s mom in the AM, and gave both my best wishes.
At any rate, I score this event as Protestors 1, Cops 0. I think they’re playing high theatre for the mainstream media.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2014/01/photos-and-video-rally-after-kelly-thomas-verdict-at-fullerton-police-department-11814/comment-page-1/#comment-506301
“California Police State”
Turns out that the protest dispersal on Saturday was a joint effort by the Fullerton – Brea – Placentia, Police Departments. MSM is pretty much reporting as a “peaceful police regretfully arrest violent protestors.” Would be funny if it wasn’t so frustrating. : /
I’ve used it on occasion after you posted it here the first time! :]
Encouraging news – it won’t bring #KellyThomas back, but it’s a start. I wrote a long letter of concern to Fullerton Police Chief Dan Hughes this evening and he replied about an hour ago:
Again, thanks for your perspective. I agree with many of them. In fact, I have already obtained funding and we are field testing our fifth body worn camera.
I too believe all police officers and the community would benefit from the cameras. I am also very aware of the Rialto Study and hope to have our officers wearing them by the end of the year.
Thanks-
Dan
Sent from my iPhone
Maybe we can get this done in LE across the country.
But I still say *%”**!! to the OC jury!
Oh, and here’s a video of the rowdiness on Friday night – I stay sort of out the fray on my corner – peaceful but noisy. Some of those young hellions have more energy than common sense!
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/42770870
*Wednesday night 1-15*
I have to hat tip someone for this video, and I think it may have been Xena who found it for me a while back. I find it very satisfying!
Not sure, but I think I am right, I think that’s who the h/t goes to!
Back again from Fullerton. Quiet night. I spent an hour picketing the PD by myself, then walked down to Kelly’s Corner to see what was going on. Since it’s in a transit center surrounded by downtown businesses and parking lots, many people come and go and pay their respects at Kelly’s memorial. There was no one there when I arrived – lots of unlit votive candles, so I lit them. Soon a woman came who is a friend of the family, then a man who still carries the book that people were signing at the large gathering at Kelly’s Corner after the verdict.
By now I’ve had the opportunity to chat briefly with many people who either know the family or who have been closely involved as supporters since Kelly was murdered.
From the various conversations, one thing has become pretty clear. This case was thrown by the prosecution during jury selection. The chief prosecutor pretty much allowed the defense to pack in all pro-police jury members. Rings true to me, as the police officers involved were neither arrested nor fired from their jobs for a year and it took extreme pressure from the public to get that to happen. The prosecutor did a similar wishy-washy
job during the Ramos and Cicinelli trial here as BDLR did in Seminole County FL.
There may be a close tie between at least one jury member and the defense attorney, I was told by a family friend who was at the trial.
So big grain of salt with all this hearsay, but there’s definitely a grain of truth in there somewhere as well.
As I mentioned before, last night was a busy night with a small group of vigorous protestors. One young man may have been an undercover cop trying to instigate violence. I didn’t say anything about that in my previous musings about last night’s doings in Fullerton, but the thought that he was a cop immediately popped into my head when got out of a vehicle that pulled up at the intersection in front of the PD last night. I found someone else tonight who also mentioned the same young man and found him suspicious too. We also thought it possible that this guy could be just mentally unbalanced. Very hostile toward everyone, but could be a ploy to play both ends against the middle, so to speak. Or just craziness. Protest movements tend to bring out all sorts of odd people.
Peace out! I probably won’t be going to Fullerton again until Saturday morning, when a large gathering is scheduled.
The chief prosecutor pretty much allowed the defense to pack in all pro-police jury members.
And that got me thinking (not good). Who selects for the victim
in jury selection other than the Prosecution on the Prosecution side? The Prosecution and Police work together, conflict of interest.
Yep, and that’s exactly what happened. OC prosecutor doesn’t want to look responsible for making the first arrest ever of an OC police officer for excessive force, manslaughter, and murder (yet hardly the first offense, that’s for sure.)
I missed this little tidbit yesterday and might explain why it was quiet in downtown Fullerton without protestors last night – Fullerton police chief will fight Cicinelli in his bid to get his job back. Thank goodness for that, cuz I was ready to go camp in the front lawn and protest forever and a day.
But get this – I knew Cicnelli was a former LAPD officer and was shot in the face – what I didn’t know is that he gets 40k a year disability from LAPD – the %**”# azzwipe could live on that, yet he insists on collecting disability AND working and then goes out and kills Kelly Thomas for his blue line thrills.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-kelly-thomas-case-former-officers-tries-to-win-back-job-20140116,0,641666.story?track=rss#axzz2qfgtO1QI
Professor, where is LLM Papa?
I don’t know. Haven’t heard from him since Trayvon’s trial.
Awwwww poor poooooor officer.
Tugs at your heartstrings doesn’t it?
“My whole life has been stopped.” he says.
No it hasn’t, not really. Your heart has not stopped as Thomas Kelly’s did from your crimes. Your brain is still functioning although apparently all it can think up is self-righteous reprehensible lies. Your lungs are still pumping air (that could be used for many better things). Your bones are not broken; your organs are not pulverized; your blood is not spilled; your face is not pummeled into some unrecognizable “graphic” shape that strikes terror in the hearts of normal people. Your whole life has not been stopped.
UNLESS your “whole life” consists of the right to abuse and sadistically destroy others, that is.
Well said.
Cicinelli wants his job back, by the way, or at the very least is putting his ducks in a row for a wrongful termination lawsuit. Never mind the wrongful termination of Kelly.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cicinelli-597262-thomas-officer.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_262255693930701_913613_262270390595898#f35256eae3518be
Heck yes and I’m the first to like this!
I’ve been in front of the PD or at Kelly’s Corner daily – or nightly, in the case of last night.
A woman motorist came around the blockand stopped into front of the PD twice last night and told a young protestor that there are rumors there were 3 attorneys on the jury and that someone named Jeff is investigating. I didn’t write the name down and don’t recall – it may pop up again into my old memory. The girl immediately entered it into her phone and tweeted or FBed it. Something like Riner , Riger . . . *onthetipofmytongue* I’d forgotten my phone . . .
Still not a large crowd protesting, but the big scheduled event is for Saturday AM in front of the PD in Fullerton . . .
Last night was lively – a group of skater and Anon types brought a portable, amplified sound system and some revolution music – motorists loved it. They had this on a stroller, so they moved around downtown Fullerton at several locations between the PD and Kelly’s Corner. Motorists and passersby on foot loved it! Great stuff, more like the spirit of the ’60s and the ’70s that is sorely lacking today!