Extending The Olive Branch

Ron Thomas, The father of Kelly Thomas, who died after a violent encounter with six Fullerton police officers met privately with Mayor F. Richard Jones Wednesday as he continued to push for answers about his son's death.

Ron Thomas said he wants Jones to resign, and after their roughly two-hour meeting, he told reporters the mayor was close to doing just that.

"Yeah, I want him to resign, and I will tell you this -- he told me clearly that after last night's (Tuesday's City Council meeting, he was very, very, very close to resigning today," Thomas said.

Mayor Jones had the following statement sent out in response to claims that he is planning on retiring from Council:

“Reports that I am considering resigning my position as Mayor of the City of Fullerton are erroneous. I am not resigning. There is much work left to be done in our great city.”, Jones said.

The private meeting came the day after a raucous City Council meeting, during which the council agreed to hire the head of the Los Angeles County Office of Independent Review to conduct an investigation into the death of Kelly Thomas.

Michael Gennaco said he will look not only at the beating death of Kelly Thomas in July, but he will conduct an in-depth review of the policies and practices of the Fullerton Police Department. He is expected to be paid between $50,000 and $70,000.

Thomas, 37, was arrested July 5 at the Fullerton Transportation Center, where officers had responded to reports of vehicles being broken into. Thomas was beaten and Tasered, and wound up hospitalized. He was taken off life support and died five days later.

Six police officers involved in the arrest have been placed on paid leave while investigations are conducted internally, by the FBI and by the District Attorney's Office.

Police Chief Michael Sellers, in the face of persistent calls for his resignation, went on medical leave earlier this month.

Public anger has now turned toward Jones. In a recent interview, the mayor -- a former surgeon -- said the question of what killed Thomas was still unanswered, noting that he had treated patients with worse injuries who survived.

"Mr. Mayor, I came here tonight to offer you an olive branch. But the first thing you did was open your mouth and I want to grab a baseball bat instead, I swear to God," Thomas told Jones during Tuesday night's meeting.

Also on Tuesday, Fullerton's acting police chief, Capt. Kevin Hamilton, ordered an internal affairs investigation into the Oct. 23 arrest of Veth Mam, who was later acquitted of attacking an officer and resisting arrest.

"Based upon the information that was brought to our attention over the last week, acting chief Hamilton has ordered an internal affairs investigation into the matter to determine what happened that evening in October 2010, and the court case this year," Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said.

Goodrich could not confirm whether any officers involved in the Oct. 23 arrest of Mam were also involved in the July 5 arrest of Thomas.

Mam was acquitted July 7 of misdemeanor charges of battery on an officer and resisting arrest. His attorney, David Borsari, said a cellphone video Mam started taking of the incident led to his acquittal because it contradicted an officer's testimony.

On the day of his arrest, Mam was walking to his car when he saw a friend being arrested by Fullerton police, Borsari said. Mam thought the police were using "excessive force," so he took out his cellphone camera to record the event, Borsari said.

One officer at the scene knocked the camera out of Mam's hand and another man picked it up and kept recording, Borsari said.

Source: Fox News Los Angeles