Tamir Rice Debacle: Why Should Black People Trust “Judicial” System?

But the OH governor argued that protesters need to have their voices heard and said he thought the U.S. Department of Justice’s continued investigation into the death of Tamir Rice was appropriate.

The case has stirred racial tensions and added Cleveland to the list of US cities – Ferguson, Missouri; Baltimore; North Charleston, South Carolina; and New York City, among them – where blacks have died in the past two years at the hands of police.

Not In Our Town say Tuesday’s gathering is not a protest, but rather a sign of support for the victim and his family. “Praying for the family of #TamirRice 12 years old shot within 2 seconds by Cleveland police while holding a toy gun that the caller identified as a toy”.

Chanting “No justice, no peace”, some 50-75 demonstrators marched in downtown Cleveland, after rallying in front of the Justice Center at 3 p.m. local time. It accused the prosecutor of “abusing and manipulating the grand jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment”.

The officers were “frightened” and did not realize that Rice – who was tall for his age – was just a boy with a toy, McGinty said.

Although the officers’ actions were not criminal, Mr McGinty said Cleveland had learnt from the shooting.

“A judge had recommended in June that there was probable cause to charge the officers, but independent reports ordered by McGinty’s office and released in October found that officer Timothy Loehmann was justified in shooting Rice”.

The words of an assistant prosecutor who handled the Rice case – one of the most high-profile and controversial USA cases of black death by police over the previous year – were most searing for Welbeck. The DOJ is also still investigating Eric Garner’s 2014 death on Staten Island after a NY grand jury declined to indict Daniel Pantaleo, the officer seen on video placing Garner in a chokehold.

A police force that has a history of excessive use of force, hired a person who has had an excessive use of force history, and had a prosecutor – Timothy McGinty- who worked closely with the department, thus influencing the outcome of a grand jury.

Rice’s family has argued the non-indictment in the case, in which a black child was killed by a white police officer, is symptomatic of a biased and “corrupt” criminal justice system. “Talking to the adults who are familiar with the grand jury system in Cauhayoga County, there’s an old joke out that the grand jury will indict an ant for being an insect”.

“It certainly was unique, the way they went about it. It was unusual”, says Judge Ronald B. Adrine, a municipal court judge in Cleveland.

Following the call, police dispatchers gave the officers their high-priority radio assignment, police jargon for a “gun run”.

Ohio Prosecutor Tim McGinty announced yesterday that there would be no charges against the police officers involved in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

A rookie patrolman fatally shot Tamir within two seconds of a police cruiser driven by another officer skidding to a stop near him.

Assistant Prosecutor Matthew Meyer said it was “extremely difficult” to tell the difference between the fake gun and a real one.

Loehmann and Garmback’s legal issues haven’t ended with the grand jury decision.