After learning that four of the six officers involved in the Kelly Thomas beating hadn't been charged, Fullerton resident Paul Orloff decided to take things into his own hands.
Earlier this month, Orloff started a petition on Change.org, which boasts more than 14,000 signatures and demands that the four officers who weren't criminally charged by the DA's office be fired, or at least disciplined.
Orloff says Thomas' death hit close to home for him, because he had a brother, who like Thomas, lived on the streets and often got roughed up by police officers. “It hit me pretty hard,” Orloff says. “This is way, way, way too far. This is ridiculous.”
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Orloff says he's been encouraged by the hearty response to his online petition, adding that almost 2,000 people have signed it in the past few days. “It's going up pretty fast. There are a lot of people signing it quick.”
The signees are from all over. In the past hour or so, people from Costa Mesa, Lindenhurst, N.Y., and Shelbyville, Ind. all signed on.
Aside from just signing the online petition, people can leave comments explaining why they did. Here's the reasoning of signee Thomas Keegan: “If the people watching were not officers.. they would have been prosecuted.”
Jon Perri, the senior organizer for criminal justice petitions on Change.org, says the response to Orloff's petition is impressive. “What Paul Orloff has accomplished in just a few days is remarkable,” Perri said in a written statement. “With no help, Paul recruited thousands of people to join him in taking on the entire Fullerton police force.”
