Kelly Thomas (April 5, 1974 – July 10, 2011) was a homeless man diagnosed with schizophrenia who lived on the streets of Fullerton, California.

A judge declined to dismiss the charges against the officers in January 2013, finding that "a reasonable person could infer that the use of force was excessive and unreasonable.

As summarized by the Orange County Register in 2020, "the name Kelly Thomas has become synonymous with police brutality and a rallying cry for reforms in how law enforcement treats the homeless.

These encounters ranged from minor infractions such as trespassing to a guilty plea in an assault with a deadly weapon case sixteen years prior.

At one point, Officer Ramos can be heard saying, "I just smashed his face to hell," after repeatedly hitting Thomas with the blunt end of his flashlight.

[23] One of the paramedics testified that he was first instructed to attend to a police officer's minor injury and then noticed Thomas lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

[24][25] Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas gave a detailed account of the events during a press conference on September 21, 2011.

[3] On July 18, 2011, a large protest outside the Fullerton Police Department was organized by several people, including the victim's father, Ron Thomas.

In addition, Tony Bushala, a local developer and conservative activist, announced plans to recall three members of the city council thought to have responded insufficiently to the beating,[40] which succeeded the following year.

Activists at that protest, which was attended by hundreds of people, called for the release of a surveillance video shot by cameras installed at the bus depot and carried signs with slogans like "Jail All Killer Cops" and "End Police Brutality.

Several people, including two members of the Fullerton City Council, called for the resignation of police Chief Michael Sellers,[43] who was later placed on medical leave in August 2011 for undisclosed reasons.

[55] On January 23, 2017, federal prosecutors announced that they would not bring charges against former officers Ramos, Cicinelli and Wolfe for violating Thomas' civil rights.

[56] In June 2012, Michael Reeves, a former employee of the Slidebar Rock-N-Roll Kitchen, filed a lawsuit for wrongful termination against Jeremy Popoff related to the beating.

[57][58] The Slidebar, which is owned by Popoff, the guitarist for Lit,[59] was the source of the call that caused police to report to the area and confront Thomas.

[20] Reeves, a bouncer at the establishment, made statements to investigators claiming the Slidebar had a policy to do "anything necessary" to keep loiterers out of the area and that his manager lied about Thomas breaking into cars when calling the police to get them to respond more quickly.

Soon after making statements to investigators about what he saw that night he claimed his managers were "furious at him for it" and slowly started taking away his responsibilities, culminating with his firing two months later.

Dubin claimed that "This whole thing is all copy from blogs and sold to some lawyer" and that, while the call did originate from the Slidebar, "that she [the manager] never used the phrase 'breaking into cars.'"

Dubin further claimed that "Everything in that lawsuit is 100 percent false"[60] and the real reason Reeve was fired was because of a confrontation with a manager in front of customers.

One day after this statement, on June 13, 2012, after months of denials, Slidebar owner Jeremy Popoff stated on KFI's John and Ken Show that one of his employees did, in fact, call police the night Kelly Thomas was beaten.

[64] On September 21, 2011, Orange County district attorney Tony Rackauckas held a press conference to announce the results of the investigation.

Also contributing to his death were brain injuries, facial and rib fractures, and the extensive bruising and abrasions he suffered during the beating, which left him lying in a "growing pool of blood", Rackauckas said.

[66] In contrast, Dr. Gary Vilke, a professor of clinical emergency medicine at UC San Diego, testified for the defense during the trial.

"[68] The defense also implied medical treatment could have played a part in Thomas's death (hospital records reportedly showed that a tube placed down his windpipe to assist his breathing had been pushed too far).

These press conferences aired locally, nationally, and internationally, heightening public interest, and imposing pressure on the Orange County District Attorney to file criminal charges.

[77] Wolfe and Cicinelli sued over their termination in the Orange County Superior Court seeking restoration of employment and back pay, alleging that Fullerton city council had been unconstitutionally biased against them.

[83][84] In May 2020, the city of Fullerton published 2,400 pages of documents about the Kelly Thomas case, as required by the recently enacted SB 1421 law.