The family of Tamir Rice is still seeking justice in the death of the 12-year-old who was shot and killed by Cleveland police in 2014. The family has asked the Justice Department to reopen the case, which was closed during the Trump Administration.
On Nov. 22, 2014, Tamir was playing with a pellet gun outside a recreation center in Cleveland. A man drinking beer and waiting for a bus called 911 to report that a “guy” was pointing a gun at people. The caller told the dispatcher that it was probably a juvenile and the gun might be “fake,” but authorities claim that information was never relayed to the officers.
Officer Timothy Loehmann and Officer Frank Garmback arrived at the scene and the 12-year-old was killed. In December 2015, a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the two officers, claiming video of the shooting was of too low quality for them to see what exactly took place.
Rice was Black, and the police officer who shot him was white, and the family says that is the reason the Trump Administration shut it down.
“I’m still in so much pain because no one has been held accountable for the criminal act that took his life,” Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, said in a statement.
Pressure is being put on Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Biden administration to begin publicly delivering on a commitment to combat racial discrimination in policing. Will they?
