Free Talk Live

Man with Down syndrome suffocated to death in police custody

A Maryland court has ruled that police are responsible for the death of a mentally disabled man. The homicide occurred after the man refused to leave a movie theater, prompting police to pin him down on the ground until he suffocated to death.

The local community in Fullerton, California, has been shaken by the violent death of Kelly Thomas, a homeless man who suffered from schizophrenia. On July 5, a local student caught some raw footage of police officers utilizing a Taser to subdue Thomas after he purportedly resisted arrest. According to sources, the man was beaten so profusely that he was placed on life support and then died several days later.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A mentally ill man's death after he was shocked twice by a police Taser was a homicide, a medical examiner's office ruled Thursday.

Shocking Released. Watch With Caution. The city surveillance video that shows a group of Fullerton police officers beating a homeless mentally ill man to death last year was finally released today, laying to rest any argument that Kelly Thomas was a threat to officers.

Defenseless Man Beaten To Death By Cops, Witnesses Said; Published May 16, 2013
"But witnesses recount a different story and say they had filmed footage of up to nine deputies incessantly beating Silva with batons."
"Witnesses said that authorities intimidated and threatened them, telling them they couldn’t leave their houses until they turned over their phones to officers."
"Melissa Quair shot the video on her the phone and had a feeling that the video would be missing after police seized it.
"We all saw the video and even some officers, it’s sad that it’s no longer there,” she said."

Six Fullerton, California, police officers were placed on involuntary administrative leave as the FBI and Orange County District Attorney investigate the death of a homeless man who was in police custody, authorities said Wednesday.The decision by Police Chief Michael Sellers came just hours before a contentious Fullerton City Council meeting Tuesday evening. More than 100 residents spent three hours at the meeting expressing outrage about the death of Kelly Thomas, who sustained serious injuries during the July 5 arrest by the officers, a police spokesman said.

The District 21 Medical Examiner ruled his death was a homicide because he had been restrained and sprayed with pepper sprayed by law enforcement officers. But to this day, nobody has ever been charged with a crime, and the Lee County State Attorney cleared the sheriff's office of any wrong doing

Shocking video has been released allegedly showing police officers tasering and beating a homeless man to death who they claim was resisting arrest. Though the video is not clear, eye witnesses say the homeless man - Kelly Thomas, 37 - was unable to put up any resistance and was lying on the ground on his front when the attack took place on July 5.

Back on June 19, Howard led police on a brief chase before crashing his car and running from officers. They said they had to use force to take him into custody behind a house in northeast Oklahoma City. Officers turned away an ambulance and took him themselves to Southwest Medical Center, where he died four days later. The medical examiner ruled that Robin Howard died from acute pneumonia due to blunt force trauma to the chest; the manner of death has been ruled homicide.