It took less
than two seconds for Cleveland Police Department officer Timothy Loehmann
to decide to steal the life of a twelve-year-old black child named Tamir Rice
on November 22, 2014.It has taken nearly a full year for Cuyahoga County
Prosecutor Tim McGinty to decide whether or not to charge Loehmann and Officer
Frank Garmback for killing Tamir. All three of these men are white.On Thursday, notwithstanding the fact that the grand jury
process he insisted on is still ongoing, McGinty for the third time publicly released an assessment that described Loehmann’s killing of
Tamir as “objectively reasonable.” This report said that he had “no alternative” and concluded
it would be a “tragedy” if the officer lost his job over it.This comes despite the fact that the Cleveland Police Department
(which
agreed to a consent decree with the Justice Department over their systemic
use of excessive force) disciplined
the officers who hired Loehmann in the first place for failing to properly
review his background – which included another police department noting his
emotional instability,poor performance during handgun training and trouble following orders and recommending he be fired.
Tamir’s family has been frustrated with the painfully slow
pace of justice and has demanded action. Tim McGinty, the prosecutor
responsible for providing that justice, has responded by accusing
Tamir’s mother Samaria of having
“economic motives” for wanting Loehmann held accountable for her son’s
murder.The first anniversary of Tamir’s death is a week from
today.You can join his
family in demanding that McGinty either file charges against Loehmann and
Garmback or step aside for an independent special prosecutor by signing
these two
petitions
started by Tamir’s cousin LaTonya Goldsby or calling McGinty’s office at
216-600-1207.The Rice family has
also called for a national weekend of action to mark a Year Without Tamir on
November 22. Events across the country will
be listed at Ferguson Action and
the Ferguson
Response Network.
tamir rice
Cleveland Police Filed Charges like “Aggravated Menacing” & “Inducing Panic” On Tamir Rice To Justify Shooting Him
If you’re a cop and you’ve just shot a 12-year old kid dead without giving him a chance to follow your orders, what do you do? You file a report making it look like he was a criminal, that’s what.
According to recently obtained documents from the Cleveland Police Department, 12-year old Tamir Rice was going to be charged with the outrageous crimes of “aggravated menacing” and “inducing panic.”
Dear police: We give those crimes back to you. All across the United States, you have induced panic and served as aggravating menaces and have gotten away with these crimes for far too long.
How dare you ever consider charging this young brother with these crimes. He was no menace, but a sixth-grade boy, and the only reason you or anyone else panicked was because of his brown skin. Here are eight white people who pointed real guns at real people and lived to tell the story.
Here is the bogus criminal report for Tamir.
Notice the following three points.
- They list three victims of Tamir Rice:
- The State of Ohio
- Officer Loehmann (who shot and killed Tamir)
- Officer Garmback (who drove the vehicle)
- This is essential. They are not claiming Tamir was a menace or induced panic to other people in the park, but to the officers. ABSURD.
- At the end of the report, notice that they say this complaint was “abated by death.“
- Notice the officer who shot and killed Tamir claims to have had minor injuries.
#StayWoke
I’m so scared for us =(
This is 12 year old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland for holding a toy gun.
Know his story. Remember his name.
I find the death of Tamir Rice personally heartbreaking, because I did the same thing—and this never would have happened to me. When I was in high school, I pointed a toy gun at a pair of police officers. But the fact of the matter is this: I’m white. I was not in genuine danger from them.
I was in the forests of a public park, with a bunch of friends, LARPing. I had a very realistic handgun prop, that looked almost identical to the one Tamir Rice was carrying. I had about thirty other teenagers at my back, all in cyberpunk costumes and carrying weapons of their own. Picnickers heard the screams of dying LARPers and called the cops.
The cops came up behind me, and I turned to them with the gun fully raised and pointed right at them. I saw them go for their guns, but when I threw mine in the air and shouted that I was an actor, their hands never reached their holsters. Despite the fact that I had a veritable army behind me, and many of them were armed. The cops calmly picked up my gun, looked it over, and then they laughed about it.
They thought it was hilarious. They made jokes about it on the radio as they reported it in. They asked me to put the gun away, and next time use a less realistic one. Then they sat on a park bench and ate lunch while they watched the rest of our game.
I pointed a toy gun at two cops in a park, and my punishment was a joke and a mildly-worded warning. Tamir Rice held a toy gun near some cops in a park, and he’s dead for it.
I’m white. Tamir Rice was black.
Anyone who tells you that racism isn’t alive and well in 2014 America is lying to your face.