Kelly Thomas

Astonishingly, infuriatingly, two former Fullerton, California cops have been acquitted on all charges after savagely beating to death Kelly Thomas, 37, a mentally ill homeless man who died five days after being set upon by Manuel Ramos, Jay Cicinelli and four other officers. The attack, caught on surveillance video, led to days of protests, the recall of three City Council members and the resignation of a police chief whose department has a long history of violent abuse. Thomas' father Ron, a former deputy sheriff, said the defense "lied continuously" during the trial and the family will likely pursue civil charges in the death of his son, who a year after his death was cleared of the stupid bogus charges - trying to get into locked cars in a bus parking lot - police came up with in a pathetic attempt to justify their cold-blooded, fist-punching murder. Since the verdict, people have held vigils and protests at a makeshift memorial where Thomas died; one sign carries Thomas' picture before the beating and proclaims, "No one can hurt u now." Also, the FBI has said it will review the evidence for federal civil rights violations. There is both raw and shorter, edited video of the attack: It captures Ramos snapping on rubber gloves, smacking his fists together and sneering to Thomas, "See these fists? They're gonna fuck you up," followed, many vicious punches later, by Thomas writihing on the ground repeatedly crying out for help and his father. Warning: stomach-churningly graphic and heart-poundingly disturbing, all of it.

"These peace officers were doing their jobs. They were operating as they were trained and they had no malice in their hearts." - defense attorney

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Kelly Thomas after beating

The sadistic thugs who did that