 Tamir Rice; IMAGE CREDIT: Justice for Tamir Rice FB Page By Marcinho Savant, Staff Writer CLEVELAND — Cleveland officials chose a settlement amount of $6 million on Monday, to end the lawsuit concerning the killing of a black, twelve year old with a pellet pistol. The child was named Tamir Rice, and was killed by a white officer outside Cudell Recreation Center center. The U.S. District Court of the city revealed the city will pay two disbursements of $3 million; one this year, and another they year after. There is available video showing the new officer, Timothy Loehmann shooting upon exiting the vehicle. On the following day, the child perished. No blame has been admitted in the settlement agreement. According to Wikipedia: “The shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy (June 25, 2002 – November 23, 2014), occurred on November 22, 2014, in Cleveland, Ohio. Two police officers, 26-year-old Timothy Loehmann and 46-year-old Frank Garmback, responded after receiving a police dispatch call "of a male black sitting on a swing and pointing a gun at people" in a city park. A caller reported that a male was pointing "a pistol" at random people in the Cudell Recreation Center. At the beginning of the call and again in the middle he says of the pistol "it's probably fake." Toward the end of the two-minute call, the caller stated "he is probably a juvenile." However, this information was not relayed to Loehmann or Garmback on the initial dispatch. The officers reported that upon their arrival, Rice reached towards a gun in his waistband. Within two seconds of arriving on the scene, Loehmann fired two shots before the zone car had come to a halt, hitting Rice once in the torso. Neither officer administered any first aid to Rice after the shooting. He died on the following day.
Source: Cleveland.com Youtube Rice's gun was later found to be an Airsoft replica that lacked the orange safety feature marking it as a replica and not a true firearm. A surveillance video of the shooting was released by police four days later, on November 26. On June 3, the County Sheriff's Office released a statement in which they declared their investigation to be completed and that they had turned their findings over to the county prosecutor. The prosecution presented evidence to a grand jury, which declined to indict. In the aftermath of the shooting, it was reported that Loehmann, in his previous job as a police officer in the Cleveland suburb of Independence, had been deemed an emotionally unstable recruit and unfit for duty.[19] The incident received national and international coverage, in part due to the time of its occurrence, coming shortly after the police shootings of several other black males.”
Although historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life. “In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back. His unnecessary and premature death leave a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled.
“Regrettably, Tamir’s death is not an isolated event. The problem of police violence, especially in communities of color, is a crisis plaguing our nation. It is the sincere hope of the Rice family that Tamir’s death will stimulate a movement for genuine change in our society and our nation’s policing so that no family ever has to suffer a tragedy such as this again.” Two years following the killing, in response to the award, Mayor Frank Jackson said "there is no price you can put on the life of a 12-year-old child." He said the shooting "should not have happened", at a news conference Monday.
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AuthorMarcinho Savant is a classically-trained singer, vocal coach, conductor, professional singer, and stage performer. ArchivesCategories
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