Our justice system was created by people no different than ourselves, so it’s no wonder that it is far from perfect. Last week, stories of Troy Davis’ execution were flooding the news. However, we — and Southern Californians, especially — must not forget about Fullerton’s Kelly Thomas, who died after being brutally beaten by two Fullerton police officers this past July.
Officers Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli are facing charges for the death of a homeless and schizophrenic 37-year-old man, Kelly Thomas.
Ramos and Cicinelli were responding to a call about a man trying to break into vehicles. The officers proceeded to shock Thomas several times with a taser gun, as well as beat the man until he fell unconscious, and later into a coma.
Despite their charges, the two officers remain on administrative leave, complete with full pay and benefits.
“We certainly notice that police departments are fairly lenient to do anything against police officers,” said executive director of the National Police Accountability Project in Boston, Brigitt Keller. “We have to sort of think about this principal, that as long as they are not convicted, they are presumed innocent.”
Although true, Keller’s statement is one that should make all of us cringe. Especially after the countless numbers of evidence and witnesses that have served to further prove Ramos and Cicinelli’s involvement in Thomas’ death.
The coroner’s death certificate confirmed the manner of death as homicide, and the cause of death as asphyxia “caused by mechanical chest compression with blunt cranial-facial injuries sustained during physical altercation with law enforcement,” according to the Orange County Register.
Four other officers were present during Thomas’ beating, but failed to stop the officers from using excessive force.
Youtube videos also show witnesses in Fullerton yelling at Ramos and Cicinelli to stop beating Thomas, but the officers did not respond.
Michael Gennaco, an outside investigator hired to carry out an internal investigation of Thomas’ death, stated he would “review whether [Fullerton’s police department] policies require an officer to stop a fellow officer from assaulting a detainee,” noted the same OC Register article.
“I think it’s a universal requirement that you should do that,” Gennaco said.
It’s funny that the charges and discipline against the six police officers in the Thomas case are being treated with such diligence, while alleged police murderer, Troy Davis, who did not have nearly as much evidence against him as the Thomas’ case, was sent so swiftly to death row.
This isn’t to say that the Kelly Thomas case should not be treated so meticulously, but more so that maybe all cases should be treated this way. Nobody wants to feel that police, or any higher authority for that matter, despite his or her misconduct, are going to receive special treatment.
As stated earlier, our justice system is not and will never be perfect. However, where is the line drawn between cases involving police officers, or the like, and cases involving everyday people, like us?
A police officer’s job is to regulate the public for safety reasons. What these two men did was the exact opposite of that. We can only hope that the Fullerton police department terminates Ramos and Cicinelli’s positions as police officers.
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