Six years after the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, the Department of Justice has decided not to bring federal criminal charges against the two Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting.
NBC News reports the department announced its decision on Tuesday, saying prosecutors cannot conclusively establish what happened because the quality of the video evidence was too poor.
The fatal shooting took place on Nov. 22, 2014, when officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback responded to a call about a “guy” who was pointing a gun at people outside a recreational center in Cleveland, Ohio. Although the caller had told the 911 dispatcher that the weapon may be fake, Loehmann arrived at the scene with his partner and shot Rice who was playing with a pellet gun at a park. The caller's information about the fake gun was never relayed to the officers, NBC News reported.
Trump’s Justice Department announced it will not charge the police officers who killed Tamir Rice in 2014
Cleveland Officer Loehmann shot 12-year-old Rice while he was playing with a toy gun in a park. Neither him nor his partner have faced any charges— Tara O'Grady (@TaraLOGrady) December 30, 2020
According to CNN, a video of the incident shows Garmback driving up to the scene in a squad car with Loehmann, who shot Rice in less than two seconds after arriving at the scene.
"This officer shot this 12-year-old boy within, within less than two seconds, within one second of arriving on the scene," Jonathan Abady, the attorney for Rice's family, said. "There's no justification for it whatsoever. This was a child playing in a park."
As the investigation unfolded, the two officers said they had given multiple commands for Rice to show his hands, but the boy was reaching for his toy before being shot. Reviewing the grainy time-lapse video, which has no audio, prosecutors said the footage “does not show detail or perspective” and the camera’s view is obstructed by a police patrol car.
Prosecutors also said the boy’s arms appear to be positioned near his waist while “his hands are not visible in the video and it cannot be determined from the video what he was doing.”
"In order to establish a federal civil rights violation, the government would have to prove that officer Loehmann's actions were unreasonable under the circumstances and that his actions were willful," federal attorneys said, according to CNN. "An officer is permitted to use deadly force where he reasonably believes that the suspect posed an imminent threat of serious physical harm, either to the officer or to others."
Seven use-of-force experts reviewed the recording, but the quality of the video and their “conflicting opinions added little to the case," the Department of Justice said. While the experts used by the family said the shooting was unreasonable, four others disagreed.
"This case involves the totally unjustified shooting of a 12-year-old child," Abady said. "This is part of a problem that we've been living with as a society for as long as anyone can remember, that is the unjustified excessive use of force by police officers against people of color. And the idea that people would not be held accountable for this is really more than upsetting."
The court also reviewed conflicting reports from witnesses and failed to confirm what exactly Rice was doing before the shooting. In addition, prosecutors said there isn't enough evidence to prove that the officers tried to mislead investigators or obstruct a probe into their actions.
Although a state grand jury had declined to indict Loehmann, the officer was fired after investigators discovered that he lied about his employment history when he applied for the job. Garmback faced a 10-day suspension because he violated tactical rules when he drove up to the scene where the shooting happened.
Tuesday's announcement comes after The New York Times reported in October that the department had effectively concluded the investigation. The latest decision officially closes the high-profile case which galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement. Dozens of more high-profile cases and lesser-known stories of police brutality have emerged since the killing of Rice, including the fatal shootings of Stephon Clark, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor and the police-involved death of George Floyd.
As Blavity previously reported, Samaria Rice released a safety handbook last year in her son's name.
"In any situation, you can only control one thing — your own actions. Even when you do everything right, things can still go wrong," the handbook states. "Know that police can lie and ask trick questions. If they tell you they already talked to your friend, or that you won't be arrested if you talk, they may be lying."
The guide directs children to "stay calm," to "ask if you're free to leave," and to understand what having "the right to remain silent" means. Samaria also plans to open the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center, which aims to "provide artistic, educational and civic youth programs that celebrate the history and culture of people of African descent."
“The arts helped Tamir with self-expression and he would want to live in a world that is equitable for all people,” the heartbroken mother said. “Our hope is to keep Tamir’s memory alive through the creation of the Tamir Rice Legacy Fund. I am humbled by the outpouring of love and support for Tamir and grateful to everyone who has already contributed.”
