At a Monday night event in Brea, Pat McKinley, ex-Fullerton Police Chief and current city councilman, taught women about self-defense.
For $5, the attendees joined the ranks of hundreds of other women who have learned McKinley's animalistic self-protection methods.
In fact, McKinley published a book titled She Bear, which according to its description on Amazon, teaches women to tap into “the power and ferocity of a mother bear protecting her cubs.” (And, we all remember the wrath of a mama grizzly.)
Here's another interesting snippet of information mentioned in the book description: “Statistics show that one in four women will be a victim to sexual assault.”
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Lo and behold, a couple of women at the event seized the opportunity to ask McKinley about the slew of allegations of sexual misconduct by an officer, which date back to 2008, when he was still in charge of the department.
In a video posted on the Friends For Fullerton's Future blog, we see McKinley's attempt– albeit an unsuccessful one–to answer diplomatically.
“Remember, that was a touching thing… it wasn't a sexual assault, it was inappropriate touching. Not a good thing, but it ain't a dangerous thing,” McKinley said. The woman who asked the question quickly responded: “Well, I'm sorry, but any type of molestation is a dangerous thing.” Call it semantics, but here's part of Wikipedia's definition of sexual assault: “any sexual touching of a person who has not consented.”
McKinley remained rather tight-lipped after the brutal beating death of Kelly Thomas at the hands of police officers, and that earned him the chagrin of many Fullertonians.
In a statement released after the DA announced his intention to file charges against two officers, McKinley said, “I hired the two officers charged today and cannot comprehend how they drifted so far from their training.” He also offered condolences to the Thomas family, but for many it was too little too late.
Consequently, there's an effort underway to recall McKinley, Mayor Richard F. Jones and Mayor Pro Tem Don Bankhead, who recall supporters say also didn't handle the aftermath of Thomas' death well.
In fact, John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou, the outspoken KFI radio personalities who are staunch supporters of the recall, are broadcasting live from near the Fullerton Police Department today between 3 and 7 p.m.
Check back later for pictures and a post on the event.
