A grand jury cleared two Cleveland police officers in the November 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was brandishing a toy gun in a park, due to a lack of evidence indicating criminal activity, a prosecutor said on Monday.
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Officers in Tamir Rice case still in jeopardy
Police Chief Calvin Williams says officers won’t take an aggressive approach toward the protesters unless things turn violent. The demonstrators then blocked traffic by forming circles at major intersections while holding hands and chanting.
But he said that enhancement of video from the scene had made it “indisputable” that Tamir, who was black, was drawing the pellet gun from his waistband when he was shot, either to hand it over to the officers or to show them that it was not a real firearm.
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There was never any direct communication between the U.S. and Iranian navies during the incident, according to the official. Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that new sanctions would constitute a violation of the agreement.
On Monday during a press conference to announce the grand jury’s ruling, Cauhayoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said the officer had reason to fear for his life.
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Similarly, the Even numbered non-transport four wheeled vehicles (motor cars etc.) would be allowed to park on even dates only. Vehicles carrying medical emergencies, women, VIPs, CNG cars and two-wheelers have been exempted from this odd-even formula.
The November 2014 death of Tamir Rice – a black child who had been carrying a replica gun in a playground when he was shot dead – and the fatal shootings of other African Americans by police have triggered protests across the country. Loehmann and Garmback were responding to a 911 call about a “guy” pulling a gun out of his trousers and pointing it at people.
Prosecutors said in a report released today that the gun Tamir was carrying – at the top and right – was “functionally identical” to the real one pictured at the bottom left.
A grand jury failed to indict the officers involved in the death of a 12 year old boy in Cleveland.
And, though some protesters gathered, all remained calm in downtown Cleveland and at the Cudell Recreation Center, the west-side park where Rice was killed. His piece detailed the factors that led to the shooting of Tamir Rice, from the police’s misperception of his size and age to the failure of the dispatcher to mention that his gun was probably a toy and to systemic problems with training in the Cleveland police department.
“Everybody has this vision of a cold, callous person who shot a 12-year-old”, Henry Hilow said.
Following the decision, a lawyer representing the Rice family issued a statement stating the family was not surprised by the decision, but would like to renew their request that the Department of Justice step in to conduct an investigation into the shooting.
Cleveland’s reputation has suffered because of some well-publicized police shootings, including the killings of two unarmed black people in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire at the end of a 2012 vehicle chase.
Also, Mayor Frank Jackson said the city and police department will conduct an internal review that could result in disciplinary action against the two officers.
McGinty said it was a “tough conversation” with Tamir’s mother when she was told there would be no charges. “She was broken up”.
So long as our system is able to sanitize every one of its corrupt, abusive, and deplorable actions with the label of “justice”, justice will always and only be whatever America can justify-whatever America can get away with. Four-hundred days after he was shot and killed by the Chicago Police Department, the officer who killed Laquan McDonald was eventually indicted on murder charges. McGinty has not yet presented the sheriff’s investigation to the grand jury, which has been in his hands since June.
Opponents to the grand jury’s decision, including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, have asked for federal intervention.
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A law professor as well as a prominent Cleveland civil rights attorney said Tuesday that from both a legal and public relations standpoint, Cleveland has considerable exposure from the federal lawsuit filed by Tamir’s family. “We’re supposed to swallow these things whole as if this is business as usual”.
