Tamir Rice death officer will not face charges

“Then, Prosecutor McGinty allowed the police officers to take the oath and read prepared statements to the grand jury without answering any questions on cross-examination”, the statement continued.

“It would be irresponsible and unreasonable if the law required a police officer to wait and see if the gun was real”, McGinty said, in reference to the toy gun the 12-year-old held as officer Timothy Loehmann perceived a threat he felt left him no choice but to shoot.

“Given this flawless storm of human error, mistakes and communications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police”, McGinty said.

The county prosecutor said he spoke with the Rice family after the grand jury handed in its decision.

There was no immediate comment from Loehmann after the decision. “This is apparently how long it takes to engineer denying justice to a family when the video of the incident clearly illustrates probable cause to charge the officer”, he had said.

Two outside reviews conducted for the prosecutor in the Tamir Rice case find the Cleveland police officer justified in shooting the 12-year-old boy. Loehmann and Garmback also said they were concerned the armed suspect might enter the recreation center.

On Monday, officials showed a photo of the toy gun next to a real Colt model to illustrate how similar they appeared, especially when the toy gun’s orange safety tip is removed.

Timothy McGinty displays a replica of the toy gun used by Tamir Rice next to a real gun in order to show how “difficult” they are to tell apart. Rice died the next day during surgery, and his family has repeatedly questioned why the case has dragged on.

In May, the Cleveland police reached a settlement with the Justice Department, which called for the police to enact some reforms to counter the department’s reputation of using excessive force.

There the judge recommended that the officer who pulled the trigger be charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty; while the other officer be charged with negligent homicide and dereliction of duty. Lawyers for the family are reportedly seeking an investigation from the Justice Department. The settlement was prompted in part by a November 2012 high-speed auto chase that ended with the killing of a couple in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire.

Civil rights leaders, community leaders and social media users expressed outrage Monday after a grand jury failed to bring charges against a Cleveland officer in the death of Tamir Rice.

The way Prosecutor McGinty has mishandled the grand-jury process has compounded the grief of this family.

Loehmann testified to the grand jury that he “continuously” shouted “show me your hands” toward Rice before firing. Meanwhile, it filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers involved and the city of Cleveland. But McGinty said there was no way for the officers on the scene to know that. Authorities say Loehmann shot Rice less than 2 seconds after opening the cruiser door. He also said that Samaria Rice “wept a great deal today”. He quit that department before he could be fired. He added the public should look through all of the available evidence before making any conclusions about the validity of the grand jury’s decision. The grand jury had been meeting since mid-October.