Tamir rice protesters want cleveland prosecutor to step down

"CLEVELAND (AP) - A grand jury declined to indict a white rookie police officer in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a black youngster who was shot to death while carrying what turned out to be a pellet gun, a prosecutor said Monday. Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said it was "indisputable" that the boy was drawing the weapon from his waistband when he was gunned down - either to hand it over to police or to show them that it wasn't a real firearm. But McGinty said there was no way for the officers on the scene to know that."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-12-28-14-12-05


No criminal acts by the officers, a justified shooting, no bill.

Once again the knee-jerk anti-police rhetoric goes down the toilet. Those who looked clearly and rationally at the evidence saw from the getgo the victim as in all these other cases caused his own demise by his own actions.

 

To bad the officer can hide his poor decision behind the badge.

 

What poor decision? To follow the law? The officer violated no policies or procedures. What if that was a real gun? Then thugs teach their kids "it's cool to shoot cops now because they can't shoot you back!"

Good thing my parents taught me not to ever leave the house with anything that looked like a firearm unless I was on our property (woods).

 

pull a very real looking pistol, it's orange tip was removed, out of your pants and point it at police after being told 3 times to raise your hands and you are effectively committing suicide by cop regardless of age or color

the entire story

Timothy Loehmann, the white Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice last year, was “objectively reasonable,” an expert on police use of force said, in a report released publicly Thursday by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office. Retired Florida police officer W. Ken Katsaris is the third expert who has concluded Loehmann was justified in shooting the black boy with a pellet gun in November 2014.

Rice was shot dead by Loehmann outside a Cleveland recreation center less than two seconds after he was encountered by police. The incident sparked outcry around the U.S. over the use of excessive force by police, and the continued delay on a decision over whether to prosecute Loehmann has drawn widespread criticism. The latest report comes as a county grand jury is hearing evidence from prosecutors to determine if Loehmann and his training officer, patrolman Frank Garmback, will face criminal charges.

"This unquestionably was a tragic loss of life," Katsaris wrote. "But to compound the tragedy by labeling the officers' conduct as anything but objectively reasonable would also be a tragedy."

Attorneys for the family of Tamir Rice have been outraged over the release of the expert reports and have demanded that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty step aside and allow a special prosecutor to take over the case.

"Regrettably, with the release of yet another utterly biased and shamelessly misguided 'expert report' the County Prosecutor is making clear his intention to protect the police from accountability under the criminal laws, rather than diligently prosecute them," attorney Jonathan Abady of New York said in a statement Thursday, according to the Associated Press.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office has not reached any conclusion in Rice’s case and is yet to consider the recommendation that will be given to the grand jury, McGinty reportedly said. "It would be premature for me to announce any final decision on charging," he added.

Police officials had previously stated that Loehmann yelled three times at Tamir to raise his hands. However, investigators from the county sheriff's office said there was no proof that Loehmann said anything to the boy. The officers had responded to a 911 call reporting that a man was pulling a gun in and out of his pants and was pointing it at people. The caller also said the gun might not be real and that the suspect might be a teenager.

Katsaris said in his report that while that information should have been passed on to the officers, it's ultimately not relevant.

"It is simply obvious that the officers had a reasonable belief that Rice was armed," Katsaris wrote.

Rice's death contributed to a growing national fury over the deaths of black people at the hands of white police officers, sparked by the death of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri, in August 2014.
http://www.ibtimes.com/tamir-rice-s...s-objectively-reasonable-shooting-boy-2182732

 

The grand jury said different, it was not a bad decision on the part of the officer, it was a bad decision on the part of the victim.

 

The decision to shoot a 12 year old boy was a poor one. Make excuses all you want, the man shot a child in 2 seconds. I know he was within his legal authority but that doesn't make it right. And save the good parents bull (*)(*)(*)(*) the kid was 12 and 12 year old make mistakes hell I a lot older than that and I still make mistakes. Save your self righteous BS for someone who buys it.

- - - Updated - - -

But even you acknowledge he was the victim.

 

I don't have to make an excuse. As the justice system shows us, he did the right thing.

I sure hope you've lectured your kids on pulling guns on police officers. My parents did.

 

The government, upon investigating itself, has found no evidence of government wrongdoing. Conservatives, utter hypocrites when claiming to be for small government, cheer.

 

They had no idea how old the person reported to be pointing a gun was did they, so why do you paint it as if they knew it was a 12 year old. If you are going to discuss the issue then do so based on the facts not your baseless assumptions.

Which implies nothing. A victim of a tragic event, that is was justified doesn't change that nor that Rice ended up dead by his own actions.

 

Cops are scared of the people because of the amount of guns floating around in the US & it's impossible to tell who exactly is going to use it in a criminal way so shootings like this happen. They happen a lot. And it will happen in higher frequencies if everyone was armed. Either that or you'd have a large exodus of cops.

 

Cops don't have a magic wand that let's them determine , in a split second , whether a gun is real or not. It's easy for you to Monday morning quarterback when it's not your life on the line. Save YOUR self righteous BS for someone who buys it.

 

It was a grand jury that decided which is separate from the government. It is why we have them, you didn't know that?

 

My kids will know better than to look at a cop if they don't have to. They will know the police are some of the most dangerous people in our society because of situations like this. They will shoot you, stand there watch you die then pat each other on the back even if they were wrong.

The fact you think this was the right thing is truly unbelievable. I understand he was within his legal authority after all the system is set up to protect its own. That man does not deserve to police the public. It still boggles my mind how conservatives can distrust government so much but wholesale support cops killing citizens for just about anything.

 

That amount of guns in this country had nothing to do with this shooting, there could be 90% fewer guns in this country and all other things being the same the same result would have occurred.

 

It was the least of the bad choices he had

 

What "government" are you talking about? You mean the jury?

 

This is one of the few cases where I feel the officer didn't act properly. The comfort with which he bum rushed upon the kid "thinking" his gun was legit and just shot him is very suspicious. I feel he was a frustrated cop with an itchy trigger finger.

 

Okay Cleveland, it's time to burn this mother(*)(*)(*)(*)er down, right?

Hand Up, Don't shoot! Black Live Matter! Etc, etc.

 

Funny that many police are now encouraging those with legal; concealed carry to do so, as a general rule I would think anyone who points a pistol at someone is not exactly harboring feelings of good will. But then honest citizens do not point their guns at police and educate their children to not do so either. We do not have a gun problem in the USA we have a (lack of) parenting problem

http://www.insideedition.com/headli...ry-their-guns-in-light-of-san-bernardino-mass

 

you have 1000 police involved killings on average per year? Police are scared of you. They will kill you without hesitation if they believe you are armed and there might be a chance you will harm them.

 

*securing tin foil hat*
Yea I totally agree!

Cops are out to get us all! Scratch the fact that someone pulled a gun on them. Those ign'int cops are just trying to pillage and bully Americans! Down with the cops!


*Removes tin foil hat and gets back to reality*

 

But it is my life on the line, every time I have to deal with a cop. It's my right as a citizen to Monday morning quarterback.

 

i believe a 12 yr old deserves a trial, especially when he didnt have a firearm.

 

They are only dangerous if you give them reason to believe YOU are dangerous and a threat to them or others. Perhaps your children would be better served if you teach them that

Would the right thing have been for him to have taken a bullet first? And the government we distrust is the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, learn the difference. And for you to try and paint it as if conservatives applaud all police shootings and celebrate such shootings even when they are done under such tragic circumstances with such tragic results such as this is just a disgusting in it's desperation for you to wrongly accuse these officers of wrongdoing. Next time you prefer for the police to hesitate and get killed and if they do not then throw them in jail?

 

It looked like a real gun.