Group Protests Death of Homeless Man

A couple of hundred demonstrators gathered in front of the Fullerton police station on Saturday, Aug. 20, to mourn and protest the death of Kelly Thomas. He was a homeless man who died on July 10 after a July 5 altercation with six officers in Fullerton, Calif. A surveillance video showed witness statements shortly after the incident. The officers have been placed on leave. Kelly suffered from a mental illness and may not have understood what police were telling him to do, according to reports. His father was a retired Orange County sheriff.

Thomas’s death, after being taken into custody by six Fullerton police officers at a public transit station, is the object of federal and local investigations, and has ignited weekly protests outside the police station. A group called Friends for Fullerton’s Future has followed the case. Fullerton is in Orange County, about 22 miles southeast of Los Angeles.