The progress from Western colonial global expansion, and the construction of American wealth and industry on the backs of enslaved Blacks and Native peoples, followed by the abrupt "emancipation" of the slaves and their exodus from the South to the Northern cities, has led us to our current divided society. Divided by economic inequities and unequal access to social resources, the nation lives in a media dream of social harmony, or did until YouTube set its bed on fire. Now, it is common knowledge that our current system of brutal racist policing and punitive over-incarceration serves the dual purpose of maintaining racial prejudice and the inequities it justifies. Brief yourself on this late-breaking development in American history here.
Judge Says Cause Exists To Arrest Cop Who Killed Tamir Rice For Murder by Ian Millhiser June 12, 2015
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A judge has found sufficient evidence to charge Officer Timothy Loehmann in the shooting of 12 year-old Tamir Rice. But what happens now?
A Municipal Court judge in Cleveland, Ohio determined that probable cause exists to bring murder charges against an officer involved in the slaying of 12 year-old Tamir Rice. The judge also determined that probable cause exists to charge a second officer with negligent homicide.
Rice was shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann while the young African American boy was holding a toy gun. Officers allegedly did not seek medical help for Rice for several minutes, though they did reportedly handcuff his 14 year-old sister and threaten to detain her further.
Judge Ronald B. Adrine found that sufficient cause exists to charge Loehmann with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide, and dereliction of duty. Officer Frank Garmback may face charges for negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.
What happens now is less certain. Adrine released his findings after clergy members and activists invoked a provision of Ohio law that allows citizens to bypass prosecutors and seek a judge’s opinion on whether cause exists to bring criminal charges. Though Judge Adrine must now issue an arrest warrant for the two officers, the case ultimately will still be referred to a local prosecutor, and the question of whether to indict the two cops rests with a grand jury.
One Year Later: Still No Justice For Tamir Rice by Terrance Heath November 28, 2015
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No rules can guarantee safety. There were no rules that could help Tamir Rice in the seconds he had to react.
One year ago, Cleveland, Ohio police shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice within two seconds of encountering him. There is still no justice for Rice and his family. If the prosecutor has his way, there will be no justice for Tamir Rice.
On November 23, 2014, Tamir Rice did what bored children all over America do every day. He went outside to play. He took with him a replica toy “airsoft” gun that resembled a real gun. Finding no one on the snow dusted streets on Cleveland’s west side, Rice amused himself. He hung out at a recreational center, played with the gun, made snowballs, and threw them at the ground.
Cleveland police officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback arrived on the scene at 3:30pm. They would later report that they encountered a “male” waving a gun around and pointing it at people. They reported, “The suspect did not comply with the officers’ orders, and reached to his waistband for the gun. Shots were fired, and the suspect was struck in the torso.” Rice was taken to a hospital, where he died of his injuries on Sunday night.
Loehmann’s and Garmback’s version of events included more details.
1. Police said Rice sat a table with up to five other people. 2. Police said they saw Rice grab the toy gun as they pulled up, and put it in his waistband. 3. Police said they got out of the car and told Rice three times to put his hands up, and he refused. 4. Police said Rice reached into his waistband and pulled out the toy gun. At [this] point, Loehmann shot him in the stomach. 5. Police said the gun looked real, and was missing a neon orange [safety indicator] to distinguish it from the real thing.
Audio and video evidence contradicted the report. On the 911 recording, [the caller] told the dispatcher, “There’s a guy with a pistol, and it’s probably fake. But he’s pointing it [at] everybody.” He added, “the guy’s probably a juvenile.”
The police dispatcher did not tell officers that the gun might be a toy, and that Rice might be a kid.
The Cleveland Police Department later showed reporters Rice’s toy gun. Police described it as “a semi-automatic pistol, with the orange safety indicator removed.” This reinforced [the] claim that the officers couldn’t distinguish it from a real weapon.
The police also revealed that they had surveillance video of the shooting. They would not release it either “out of respect for the family.” Due to public demand, police released the video on November 26.
The video revealed that the police lied about almost every aspect of the shooting.
6. Rice was not seated with other people. The video shows he was alone. In fact, he wasn’t seated at all. The video shows he was standing when the police officers pulled up. 7. Rice did not grab the gun and put it in his waistband. The video does not show the gun on the table or in Rice’s hands in the moments before the police car pulls up. 8. The officers did not get out of the car and tell Rice three times to put his hands up. The video shows Loehmann shot Rice within two-seconds of the officers’ arrival. Loehmann opened fire immediately after exiting the vehicle. 9. Rice did not reach into his waistband and pull out the toy gun. The video shows Rice used both hands to lift up his shirt and exposed the gun before Loehmann opened fire. 10. Police never saw Rice point the gun at them, and never saw whether it had a neon orange tip. The video does not show Rice removing the gun from his waistband at all before Loehmann fired his weapon.
The video released by the Cleveland police cut out shortly after the shooting. The extended video revealed the officers' callousness towards Rice and his family.
11.The police did not offer Rice first aid. Rice received no first aid for four minutes. Then a medically-trained FBI agent arrived on the scene. An emergency medical crew arrived three minutes later. 12. Rice’s older sister ran to the scene. Police tackled her, handcuffed her, and placed her in a patrol car. Paramedics worked on her brother just a few feet away, and carried him off on a stretcher. 13. Rice’s mother, Samira, tried to rush to his side, and police threatened her with arrest as well.
A media investigation reveals that Loehmann had no business wearing a badge or having a gun. In 2012, Independence, Ohio fired Loehmann from its police force, for being “mentally unfit.”.
Loehmann was “distracted,” “weepy,” and unable to “communicate clear thoughts,” at a firearms training. As a result, “his handgun performance was dismal.” Loehmann was unable to perform basic functions as instructed.” He “would not be able to substantially cope, or make good decisions” on the job. He would likely crumble under stress. That’s from Loehmann’s personnel file, which Cleveland police never read before hiring him. The supervisors who hired Loehmann were disciplined.
Despite all of the above, city officials absolved the officers and blamed Rice for his own death.
• Rice’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit. The city’s defense claimed that Rice failed to “exercise due care to avoid injury.” • Police wanted to charge Rice with “aggravated menacing” and “inducing panic”. Yet the video shows Rice playing before officers arrived. The complaint was “abated” by Rice’s death. • An investigation by the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office found “no fault with the police.” • A municipal judge ruled that there was probable cause to charge the officers in Rice’s death. Yet, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty refused to file charges against the officers. Instead, McGinty gave the case to a grand jury. • The Department of Justice cited McGinty’s independent investigator for outrageous bias in favor of police officers. • McGinty leaked two expert reports justifying the shooting, because police were not told the gun might be a toy. • Another expert commissioned by McGinty called Rice’s killing “objectively reasonable.”
One year later, Rice’s family is still waiting for justice. No one can guess when this process will end. Though it’s almost certain how it will end. As in Ferguson, the prosecutor is trying to ensure that no indictments are likely to result. The police lied. Loehmann shot Rice on sight. Yet, the officers might not face charges.
No one expected this outcome when Tamir Rice walked out of his house, looking for some fun. His family expected him to walk back through the door in an hour or two.
I thought [of] Tamir Rice this weekend. Our son — who, at 13, is the same age Rice would be now — pulled on his hoodie and walked out the door to meet up with a friend. That’s what any 13-year-old should be doing.
The world is different for children like Tamir Rice and our son.
They are not safe from police violence anywhere. Not at school, not at home, not at pool parties, not even just walking down the street.
They don’t get to be children. They are “denied the right to be young, to be vulnerable, to make mistakes.” Police see them as “older looking,” and “less innocent” than their white peers. (The police officers at the scene [of] Rice’s shooting thought he was “maybe 20” years old.)
They get punished more harshly than their white peers for the same behavior. They are criminalized for behavioral problems for which their white peers get treatment. They are suspended or expelled from school more than their white peers for the same behavior. Boys are 21 times more likely to be killed by police than their white peers. Police are more likely to “shoot first,” and use force against them. Tamir Rice was shot within two seconds, over a toy gun that he never pointed at the police. Yet, many whites have pointed guns at the police and lived to tell the tale.
No rules can guarantee their safety. There were no rules that could help Tamir Rice in the seconds he had to react.
Of course, I’ve had “the talk” with our son. We loaded him up with advice before he went out the door. We told him to call home if for any reason he wanted us to come and get him. We breathed a sigh of relief when he walked back in the door a few hours later, safe and sound, with no trouble to report.
Tamar Rice’s family is still waiting for that sigh of relief. It did not come at the sight of him walking back through the door that Saturday afternoon. It’s looking like it won’t come [until] there’s finally justice for his death.
Protesters Shut Down Streets After Cop Who Killed 12-Year-Old Boy Goes Free By Alex Zielinski December 30, 2015
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Protesters took to the streets of Cleveland and New York City shortly after the decision was announced Monday.
A grand jury’s decision not to indict the Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice sparked public protests Monday evening — and will likely continue throughout the week.
Shortly after the announcement that Officer Timothy Loehmann would face no criminal charges, protesters in Cleveland and New York took their outrage to the rainy streets, shutting down main thoroughfares with relatively brief, peaceful marches demanding justice for Rice’s family and a federal intervention into the case. Protesters promise more action Tuesday evening.
“If we march today, maybe a kid doesn’t die tomorrow,” chanted a group of 30 protesters who met last night in front of the Cleveland recreation center where Rice was shot for playing with a toy gun just over a year ago. The group marched and chanted through the city to police headquarters. They faced locked doors.
❌Siraj Solution❌ @sirajsol #AutoFavBot December 29, 2015 at 01:18AM Cleveland Tamir Rice protest … http://fb.me/1X5AswTTw 11:29 PM - 28 Dec 2015
Members of the Cleveland Police Department, the local housing authority, and local churches are reportedly meeting Tuesday morning to discuss “how to move forward.” However, community protesters have a more organized rally in the works for Tuesday afternoon in the city center.
Alexandra Rosenmann @alexpreditor A moment of silence at the NYC solidarity protest for #TamirRice #NYCRiseUp4Tamir 5:14 PM - 28 Dec 2015 · Manhattan, NY, United States
In New York City, a larger march shut down the Brooklyn Bridge and nearby streets, led by NYC Shut It Down, an anti-police-violence group active in the city’s Black Lives Matter movement. No protesters were arrested.
Opponents to the grand jury’s decision, including presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, have asked for federal intervention.
“All I wanted was someone to be held accountable. But this entire process was a charade,” said Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, in a statement Monday evening. “I pray and hope that the federal government will investigate this case.”
Rice’s family has also filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the two police officers involved in the shooting and the city of Cleveland.
The family has renewed its request for the United States Department of Justice to step in and conduct “a real investigation.”
Which may already be underway. On Monday evening, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of Northern Ohio released a statement affirming its continued involvement in an investigation of Rice’s death. “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,” it promised.
No Charges in the Murder of Tamir Rice By NationofChange Staff December 29, 2015
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Once again, justice has not been served. There will be no indictment against the police officer responsible for the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
A grand jury has decided that there will be no charges in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann and his partner responded to a call about a juvenile with a weapon that was “probably fake.” Video showed Office Garmback driving a police cruiser up close to Tamir Rice, with Officer Loehmann exiting the vehicle and immediately firing his gun. Tamir died hours later. Office Garmback was not indicted.
Tamir’s death caused waves of protests across the nation, as it happened shortly after a grand jury declined to indict a Ferguson police officer in the shooting of Michael Brown.
The investigation into Tamir’s death has been criticized by the Rice family. They believed that the investigation was painfully slow and most likely rigged, making an indictment impossible.
The prosecutor in charge of the case, Timothy J. McGinty believes that the shooting was “human error.” According to reports he commissioned by use-of-force analysts, Officer Loehmann acted responsibly in the shooting. However, the Rice family also had outside report commissioned that found the shooting unjustified.
Tamir Rice was just one of nearly 1,000 people killed by police this year.
Many people posted on Twitter their response tot he disappointing, but mostly expected, news:
Elodie [el-oh-dee] @Elodie_Q No justice for this sweet face. #TamirRice I mourn for my future sons. 12:31 PM - 28 Dec 2015
Ngoako Lerato Mannya @LeratoMannya So no justice for #SandraBland or #TamirRice but people must just "move on & heal". Heal how when justice hasn't been served? 12:29 PM - 28 Dec 2015
Advancement Project @adv_project Grand jury decides no officers will be held accountable for the killing of #TamirRice Justice has been denied. 12:19 PM - 28 Dec 2015
