In response to Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas' announcement of a second-degree murder charge against Fullerton Police Officer Manuel Ramos and an involuntary manslaughter charge against Corporal Jay Cicinelli in the death of Kelly Thomas, Fullerton Acting Police Chief Kevin Hamilton read a statement this afternoon saying he respected the decision.
“The Fullerton Police Department will continue to cooperate with the District Attorney's office in their investigation,” he told reporters during a 4 p.m. press conference at the Fullerton PD headquarters.
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Councilmembers Bruce Whitaker and Sharon Quirk-Silva attended the short
meeting; Mayor F. Richard Jones and councilmembers Don Bankhead
and Pat McKinley were noticeably absent.
Hamilton added that the
Fullerton Police Department is dealing with two other
investigations: the FBI's civil-rights investigation and an independent
internal investigation conducted by the Los Angeles Office of
Independent Review.
“We cannot make a determination as to
specifically how long it will take the FBI and the Los Angeles Office of
Independent Review to complete their investigations,” he added.
The
police officers involved in the Kelly Thomas case are still under
administrative leave, Hamilton said before concluding his statement.
“This
has been a tragic event for Kelly Thomas, the Thomas family, the
community, the police department and for all of those who were
involved,” Hamilton concluded. “To those of you who live in, work in and
visit the city of Fullerton, your police department remains fully
operational and we will continue to provide police service to our
community.”
After Hamilton made his statement without answering
questions, many members of the group of protesters calling themselves “Kelly's Army” gathered in front of the
police station cheering the decision made by Rackauckas earlier in the
day. They chanted “Two down/Four to go/Kelly's Army/We won't go!”
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