Police Beating Video Puts Two Officers on Trial for Death of Kelly Thomas (VIDEO)
Two officers will stand trial after video footage was released showing the officers brutally beating a mentally ill homeless man.
The video footage was released Monday during a hearing which looked to decide whether or not the two should stand trial. The victim revealed in the video is 37-year-old Kelly Thomas, who died five days after the beating occurred in Los Angeles, California.
"Manuel Ramos, a 10-year veteran of the Fullerton, California, police department, is charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, while Cpl. Jay Patrick Cicinelli faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and felony use of excessive force in the same case," CNN News reported.
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Officers had responded to a call on July 1, 2011 that reported that Thomas was seen peering through car windows and pulling on car door handles. Thomas suffered from Schizophrenia.
Thomas was asked by police officers to get down on the ground. When Thomas fails to respond, one of the officers pulls out a baton and hits Thomas in the back. The next scene reveals Thomas on the ground saying, "I'm sorry" over and over.
"Ok, I'm sorry, dude. I'm sorry!" he screams. At one point, Thomas says he can't breathe. The officers tell him to lie on his stomach, put his hands behind his back and relax.
Thomas was told to calm down while crying out for help before he is tasered by police. Thomas' death was ruled a homicide by the coroner, although both officers have plead not guilty to charges.
"We ran out of options so I got to the end of my Taser and I ... smashed his face to hell," one officer remarks in the video after the beating, with an unconscious Thomas lying in a pool of blood.
According to the coroner, Thomas died of having his chest compressed making him unable to breathe.
