[Missjulia92]

This is a first-hand account of the Kelly Thomas beating from one of his treating physicians at the hospital. It accounts for when he was brought into the hospital, and her subsequent accounts as an expert witness at the trial. The accounts are just as chilling today as they were in 2011. Saddest part is, that there is no justice for this man and 8 years later, incidents like these are still happening. I wish it would end, but I doubt it ever will





(These photos are nothing new, but they should be included with the answer).

Honestly, I am ashamed to say I didn’t think too much of it at the time. He was just another trauma patient. I was told— and believed— he was belligerent and violent at the scene, where he had sustained his injuries while resisting arrest. He was a white male vagrant with a known history of mental illness. Putting the puzzle pieces together where they lay, I assumed the police officers had done what was necessary to subdue him and protect the public, during the course of which his facial bones were fractured, he aspirated blood, lost his air supply and thereafter his pulse. Although he regained vitals on maximal life support, the prolonged period of time without oxygen resulted in profound physiologic derangement and severe irreversible brain damage. It was a tragic but not completely arbitrary sequelae, the natural consequence of his behavior.

That said, he arrived in extremis, dark purple blood pooling from every orifice, looking as though he had just been hit by a train going one direction, followed by a bus going another. Over the next few hours to days I cleaned his head and face and discovered he was red-headed, like me. I stitched his lacerations. I titrated his medications, fine-tuned his ventilator, and poured over endless CT scans. I met his father. And then, on July 10, 2011, 5 days after his initial arrest, I withdrew life support at the behest of his parents, and Kelly Thomas died. He was 37 years old.

He never regained consciousness. I never spoke to him. But six months later he spoke to me.

He said, “Help me. They’re killing me.”

I didn’t want to believe it. The prosecutor asked me if I wanted a glass of water. No, you would think that the initial sight of his monstrously swollen, deformed and blackened face in the trauma bay six months prior— cold and watery blood spurting out his nose and ears with every grunted chest compression— would have done it. But it was instead the sound, in that sterile conference room, of his voice, now, projecting from the black-and-white TV monitor, stridorous and sucking for air, whispering

“Dad, help me, help me God”

over and over as the image of the officer leaned relentlessly on his still and shrunken chest, that finally did it. I puked bile into the wire waste basket at my feet and had to be excused.

Never in my entire life has my viewpoint on anything changed so dramatically, so unexpectedly, so quickly.

I guess I always assumed there was some degree of cause and effect to life, or at least the field of trauma surgery. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not necessarily saying any patient **deserves** their injuries. But for many an injury affords the strange and silvery blessing to recover, learn and improve. Whether that be overcoming an addiction, mastering one’s anger, or just driving slower in the rain, there is often a reassuring sort of sense to the world of trauma. From that follows justice, and in its wake, redemption. Or so I try to convince myself. And some nights succeed.

But there was no justice for KT, whose only crime had been to wander disheveled and mumbling through a restaurant parking lot. His murderers were acquitted or set free, despite the mountain of damning medicolegal evidence, expert witness testimony including my own, and camera footage clearly depicting the cold-blooded assault second by second for over 20 minutes. Mercy was his only angel— and a feeble, late-coming one at that. Where is Kelly Thomas’s opportunity for redemption? Perhaps, just a sliver, in me, if I heed his last words, on behalf of the mentally ill and victimized, marginalized and brutalized, people everywhere. So no one else should ever have to say or witness those words again,

Help me

They’re killing me

Help me God.

link to question and answer on Quora

[Skruffy1]

Damn.. he didn't that.. no one does

[HeyJealousy]

How many DR'ers are gonna leap to the killer cops' defense now?

I know there is a contingent of people who worship authority figures like Gods -- maybe because they never had any in their lives. But you can't justify any of this shit, and if you do, you may as well go ahead and say that Richard Ramirez didn't do anything wrong. In some ways, this is even worse than the likes of Ramirez, Dahmer, etc.

[Suicide_Note]

Originally Posted by HeyJealousy ↗

How many DR'ers are gonna leap to the killer cops' defense now?

I know there is a contingent of people who worship authority figures like Gods -- maybe because they never had any in their lives. But you can't justify any of this shit, and if you do, you may as well go ahead and say that Richard Ramirez didn't do anything wrong. In some ways, this is even worse than the likes of Ramirez, Dahmer, etc.

I'm very much pro-police, but there's no absolutely no defending what the officers did to this poor man. Completely over the top, excessive, and wholly unnecessary use of force on that gentleman. It's truly a tragedy that he suffered such a beating, and even worse that none of the officers involved were ever convicted of any crime for it.

[kellyhound]

the video. cop was swinging his baton like he wanted some action.
on the other habd he wasn't very willing yo listen to their commands but the follow up is way over the top.

[RUTHIE7]

If he couldn't breathe he wouldn't be able to scream and scream and shout out "oww, ow, ow..help me dad!!!" etc. Over and over again!

Argumentative and goading the officers for so long... I still believe the cops way over did it but fucking hell.... he was RUDE and disrespectful, over and over and over again. He was still fighting the cops right up to the end .. not complying whenever he could find an opportunity.



Why couldn't he just give the cops his name?!

Couldn't even sit still or put both his legs in front of him... and keep his hands on his knees. He just wouldn't listen. He kept being argumentative and 'gas lighting' the cops... over and over...

You would have to be a saint not to get pissed off with hobos like this with BAD fucking attitudes. Remember, these cops handle shit every day. They're stressed out, get paid peanuts, and are goaded and terrorised by thugs daily. That kind of stress is a killer in itself.

I think cops should work a shift pattern which would be beneficial for their mental health. They should have a three day work pattern. Three on, three off... with 1 day of councilling and team building.

It would change everything for the better. It would change entire communities.

[CrimsonQuill157]

Originally Posted by RUTHIE7 ↗

If he couldn't breathe he wouldn't be able to scream and scream and shout out "oww, ow, ow..help me dad!!!" etc. Over and over again!

Argumentative and goading the officers for so long... I still believe the cops way over did it but fucking hell.... he was RUDE and disrespectful, over and over and over again. He was still fighting the cops right up to the end .. not complying whenever he could find an opportunity.



Why couldn't he just give the cops his name?!

Couldn't even sit still or put both his legs in front of him... and keep his hands on his knees. He just wouldn't listen. He kept being argumentative and 'gas lighting' the cops... over and over...

You would have to be a saint not to get pissed off with hobos like this with BAD fucking attitudes. Remember, these cops handle shit every day. They're stressed out, get paid peanuts, and are goaded and terrorised by thugs daily. That kind of stress is a killer in itself.

I think cops should work a shift pattern which would be beneficial for their mental health. They should have a three day work pattern. Three on, three off... with 1 day of councilling and team building.

It would change everything for the better. It would change entire communities.

What the fuck is wrong with you? Did you watch that video? Are you actually defending those assholes?

[Missjulia92]

Originally Posted by RUTHIE7 ↗

If he couldn't breathe he wouldn't be able to scream and scream and shout out "oww, ow, ow..help me dad!!!" etc. Over and over again!

Argumentative and goading the officers for so long... I still believe the cops way over did it but fucking hell.... he was RUDE and disrespectful, over and over and over again. He was still fighting the cops right up to the end .. not complying whenever he could find an opportunity.



Why couldn't he just give the cops his name?!

Couldn't even sit still or put both his legs in front of him... and keep his hands on his knees. He just wouldn't listen. He kept being argumentative and 'gas lighting' the cops... over and over...

You would have to be a saint not to get pissed off with hobos like this with BAD fucking attitudes. Remember, these cops handle shit every day. They're stressed out, get paid peanuts, and are goaded and terrorised by thugs daily. That kind of stress is a killer in itself.

I think cops should work a shift pattern which would be beneficial for their mental health. They should have a three day work pattern. Three on, three off... with 1 day of councilling and team building.

It would change everything for the better. It would change entire communities.

What the hell is wrong with you?


Why couldn’t he say his name or sit still? His brain chemistry is out of whack. And no one did a damn thing to help him before he was senselessly beaten.

The man had schizophrenia. He was riddled with paranoia and distrust and anger. Yet you make excuses for the systems that led to these events.

The criminal justice system needs extensive crisis response training in terms of psychiatric incidents. There also needs to be better treatment systems that are affordable and help the person suffering from mental illness.

[cannonreload]

Originally Posted by RUTHIE7 ↗

If he couldn't breathe he wouldn't be able to scream and scream and shout out "oww, ow, ow..help me dad!!!" etc. Over and over again!

Argumentative and goading the officers for so long... I still believe the cops way over did it but fucking hell.... he was RUDE and disrespectful, over and over and over again. He was still fighting the cops right up to the end .. not complying whenever he could find an opportunity.



Why couldn't he just give the cops his name?!

Couldn't even sit still or put both his legs in front of him... and keep his hands on his knees. He just wouldn't listen. He kept being argumentative and 'gas lighting' the cops... over and over...

You would have to be a saint not to get pissed off with hobos like this with BAD fucking attitudes. Remember, these cops handle shit every day. They're stressed out, get paid peanuts, and are goaded and terrorised by thugs daily. That kind of stress is a killer in itself.

I think cops should work a shift pattern which would be beneficial for their mental health. They should have a three day work pattern. Three on, three off... with 1 day of councilling and team building.

It would change everything for the better. It would change entire communities.

how is your brain so damaged, yet it's still able to keep your heart beating, breathe, digest, etc....?

[Dusti_]

Originally Posted by RUTHIE7 ↗

If he couldn't breathe he wouldn't be able to scream and scream and shout out "oww, ow, ow..help me dad!!!" etc. Over and over again!

Argumentative and goading the officers for so long... I still believe the cops way over did it but fucking hell.... he was RUDE and disrespectful, over and over and over again. He was still fighting the cops right up to the end .. not complying whenever he could find an opportunity.



Why couldn't he just give the cops his name?!

Couldn't even sit still or put both his legs in front of him... and keep his hands on his knees. He just wouldn't listen. He kept being argumentative and 'gas lighting' the cops... over and over...

You would have to be a saint not to get pissed off with hobos like this with BAD fucking attitudes. Remember, these cops handle shit every day. They're stressed out, get paid peanuts, and are goaded and terrorised by thugs daily. That kind of stress is a killer in itself.

I think cops should work a shift pattern which would be beneficial for their mental health. They should have a three day work pattern. Three on, three off... with 1 day of councilling and team building.

It would change everything for the better. It would change entire communities.

Wtf??? Being belligerent and REALLY fucking difficult, doesn't give cops the right to beat this man to death... Which is exactly what those evil fucks did...