Emotions amongst family members, friends, and supporters of Tamir Rice are running extremely high. A young man who’s life was taken by Ohio police when they confronted Rice. Who at the time was in a park playing with a toy gun.
The U.S. Department of Justice will not charge any of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was killed by police in Cleveland in 2014. The department has closed its investigation.
In a seemingly traditional narrative, the Justice Department announced it found insufficient evidence to “support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.”
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In a statement released Tuesday, the department said it notified Rice’s family attorneys about the decision on Monday “and today sent a letter to Mr. Rice’s family explaining the findings of the investigation and reasons for the decision.”
Imagine losing a child to persons who are tasked with protecting and serving our communities. Trigger happy officers who exhibit little to no conflict resolution skills.
Chilling video footage of the killing, which happened in broad daylight on Nov. 22, 2014, shows Rice was shot within two seconds of the police arriving at the scene. Not nearly enough time to survey the scene and move appropriately.
The officers were responding to a 911 call during which the caller said there was a man, “probably a juvenile” who was pointing a gun that was “probably fake” at people on the playground. However, the dispatcher failed to relay to the responding officers the fact that the subject of the call was likely a child with a toy.
Ultimately, the frustration of the situation as a whole is taking a toll on the Rice family. Frustration with a law enforcement system that continues to see killer cops let go without any major punishment for their actions, which undoubtedly can be classified as criminal action.
We continue to pray for the Rice family. We hope somehow some way justice is served and their hearts and minds can find some sort of peace.