A grand jury has declined to indict two Cleveland police officers for their role in the shooting last year of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy who was holding a pellet gun.
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Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty blamed a lack of communication as a significant contributor to the death but found no evidence of criminal conduct by police. McGinty said he was in agreement with the decision and suggested the grand jury not to charge the police officers Frank Garmback and Timothy Loehmann involved in the Rice incidence.
Tamir was carrying a borrowed airsoft gun that looks like an actual firearm but shoots non-lethal plastic pellets, but was missing the orange tip that is supposed to show that it is not a real weapon.
The two officers on the scene-Loehmann and his partner, Frank Garmback-were responding to a call about a kid with a gun in the park. He said that because of that new enhancement, “it is now indisputable that Tamir was drawing his gun from his waist as the police vehicle slid toward him and Officer Loehmann exited the auto”. But Mr. McGinty said there was no way for the officers to know that as they pulled up.
The officers and the city are being sued by Tamir’s family in federal court, and a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney in Cleveland said Monday that there’s an ongoing civil rights investigation concerning Tamir’s death.
Surveillance video showed Loehmann shooting Tamir within seconds of his vehicle pulling over near the gazebo at the Cudell Rec Center on West Boulevard in Cleveland, CBS affiliate WOIO-TV reported. The city also reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice this year to introduce numerous reforms, including an overhaul of the police department’s use-of-force policies.
He said it was not unreasonable for the officers to fear for their lives.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty urged people who disagree with the grand jury to keep protests peaceful.
“It is unheard of and highly improper for a prosecutor to hire “experts” to try to exonerate the targets of a grand jury investigation”, the Rice family statement reads.
“From the onset, our hearts, thoughts and prayers have gone out to the Rice family as well as our involved officers and their families”, said the association.
The Rice family has a “good case”, Gilbert said. “We explained to her that this was a hard decision, but that to charge-even a situation as undeniably tragic as the death of her son-the state must be able to show the officers acted outside the constitutional boundaries set forth by these United States”. The group marched and chanted through the city to police headquarters. But prosecutors say plenty of mistakes were made that led to the tragedy. “We will continue our independent review of this matter, assess all available materials and determine what actions are appropriate, given the strict burdens and requirements imposed by applicable federal civil rights laws”, the US Attorney’s Office for Northern Ohio said Monday.
A bystander called 911 to report that a boy was playing with a gun but clarified later to the operator that it was “probably fake”.
In Chicago, Bettie Jones, 55, a mother of five, and Quintonio LeGrier, 19, a college student, were shot dead by police on Saturday. And he said Tamir was big for his age – 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 175 pounds, with a men’s XL jacket and size 36 trousers – and could have easily passed for someone much older.
“Whether they agree with the grand jury decision, we are moving ahead with our process”, Jackson said. But “the dispatcher didn’t relay the caller’s doubts”, and “within seconds Officer Timothy Loehmann stepped out of the passenger side and fired two shots, striking Tamir once in the abdomen”.
After the decision not to indict was released, Rice’s family released a statement in which they said that they were “saddened and disappointed by this outcome-but not surprised”.
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On Monday night, about three dozen protesters peacefully demonstrated by marching from the park where Rice was killed to the police station.
