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Indybay Feature

Capitalism Kills: The local implications of Kelly Thomas' Murder By Cop

by Razer Ray
This post is dedicated to the memory of Kelly Thomas and all victims of STATE-TOLERATED BRUTALITY. Truth be told, Police Brutality against America's people of color and poor is a 'known' but the thing that really ENRAGES ME is the reason the officers were there at all...

Kelly Thomas, Homeless local citizen of Fullerton California, was brutally murdered by what can only be described as rogue police officers, who have been (unbelievably) acquitted.

Police Brutality against America's people of color and poor is a 'known' but the thing that really ENRAGES ME is the reason the officers were there at all.

A local business called the police and lied, saying the victim had been tampering with cars. The lie was an attempt to get the victim to move away from their property undoubtedly because they felt he was dissuading customers… A ‘nuisance’. This is a common practice where I live, and maybe where YOU live too, and it’s pretty obvious our local police willingly accept these lies from “fine upstanding members of the business community”, assume their truth, and never question the veracity of the complainant’s words.

(A 1m:53s 1.6 mb mp3 of the call to Fullerton’s police from the Slidebar Kitchen is available here courtesy of NBCNews.)

Truth be told, If you or I or any private individual called the police about someone car tampering the officers would CERTAINLY inspect the veracity of your statement before proceeding. Anyone whose ever had occasion to call the police knows this.

Kelly Thomas was set up to be confronted, and murdered by rogue police officers, without questions, in the interest of profits for a business. The murder was an aberration we’d pray. But the LIE is NOT. The practice is common, accepted, and unquestioned.

“The Business of Business IS Business”, and businesses are increasingly finding themselves at odds with the people of the communities they operate in. Likewise, law enforcement is also part and parcel of the 'business plan' allowing them to operate "As Usual" even as the community's citizens find themselves 'increasingly' sliding into poverty and homelessness.

A tragic example of how Capitalism consorts with institutionally legitimized gunmen and, intentionally or not, kills for it’s profits.

Cross-posted from Anarchic Tendencies.
Listen now:
Copy the code below to embed this audio into a web page:
(A call to Fullerton’s police from the Slidebar Kitchen is available here courtesy of NBCNews.)
http://media.nbcbayarea.com/audio/11-41602+call.mp3
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by Razer Ray
Kelly Thomas, Homeless local citizen of Fullerton California was brutally murdered by police officers, who have been (unbelievably) acquitted.

The thing that really ENRAGES ME considering I discounted police brutality against People of Color and the poor decades ago is the reason the officers were there at all. A local business called the police and lied, saying the victim had been tampering with cars.

The lie was an attempt to get the victim to move away from their property undoubtedly because they felt he was dissuading customers… A ‘nuisance’. This is a common practice where I live, and maybe where YOU live too, and it’s pretty obvious our local police willingly accept these lies from “fine upstanding members of the business community”, assume their truth, and never question the veracity of the complainant’s words.

Truth be told, If you or I or any private individual called the police about someone car tampering, a non-critical situation that doesn't require immediate response, the officers would CERTAINLY 'vet' your claim before proceeding. Anyone whose ever had occasion to call the police knows this.

Kelly Thomas was set up to be confronted, and murdered, by rogue police officers, without any questioning of the claims made to a police dispatcher by a low-level employee of a business... An employee who was told by his manager to make that call, in the interest of profits for that business.

The murder was an aberration we’d pray. But the LIE is NOT. The practice is common, accepted, and unquestioned.

“The Business of Business IS Business”, and retail businesses in many cities are increasingly finding themselves at odds with the people of the communities they operate in.

Law enforcement and police state apparatchik like "Private security Patrols" ... "Hospitality Hosts" are part and parcel of city-collaborated ‘business plans’ allowing their commecial interests to operate “As Usual”, even as the community’s citizens find themselves inexorably sliding into poverty and homelessness with no tangible support from the government they elect, leaving them vulnerable to 'nuisance ordinances' and other so-called 'laws' often created with no, or severely limited public input affecting their access to public space, and it seems the public space near many city's favored revenue generators, Retail merchants and their commercial property owning friends.

A tragic example of how Capitalism consorts with institutionally legitimized gunmen and, intentionally or not, kills for it’s profits.
I have an open U.S. Department of Justice discrimination complaint against the SCPD with a Federal Transit Administration civil rights complaint on the way for their hijinks shilling for abuse and discrimination by Metro bus station employees/guards.

Contact me at 831-419-1521 or email me at karma [at] cruzio.com if you're an SCPD and/or Metro Transit District (SCMTD) victim. I might be able to help you, to gain justice for your suffering, as well as preventing the SCPD and SCMTD from victimizing more vulnerable, disenfranchised people.

My fax number is below too.

Respectfully,
John E. Colby, Ph.D.

email: karma [at] cruzio.com
email: colby [at] docktorcat.com
cellphone: 831.419.1521
fax: 202.204.0820

linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/john-colby/3/920/baa
twitter: @jecolbe
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nonprofit to launch: https://www.facebook.com/GorillaAdvocacyInc

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