Calm urged after Ohio grand jury doesn’t indict officers

Crawford produced a memo of use of force by law enforcement that was rejected by the Justice Department as too generous to the police.

To be clear, McGinty has not always supported police accused of shooting citizens. McGinty has not yet presented the sheriff’s investigation to the grand jury, which has been in his hands since June. Within seconds, Officer Timothy Loehmann exited the auto and shot him. Loehmann’s partner, Officer Frank Garmback, will not be charged in Rice’s death either. They said they ordered Rice to drop the weapon before Loehmann fired. “They have been on restricted duty since this incident happened”, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters.

“It’s tough enough to do this job as it is, but it becomes a helluva lot harder when the gun you’re worrying about turns out to be a fake”.

Loomis says “while there is absolutely no upside to this issue, there are lessons that should and will be learned by all”. He called it a “perfect storm of human error”.

“We will continue our independent review of this matter, assess all available materials and determine what actions are appropriate, given the strict burdens and requirements imposed by applicable federal civil rights laws”, the office said in a statement.

“This is ridiculous”, Terri Tolefree said of the grand jury decision. It turned out to be a pellet gun.

Mr McGinty said the death was a “tragedy” but not a crime. “Had the officers been aware of these qualifiers, the training officer who was driving might have approached with less urgency”.

“We have made progress to improve the way communities and police work together in our state, and we’re beginning to see a path to positive change so everyone shares in the safety and success they deserve”.

Ohio Governor John Kasich urged residents not to “give in to anger and frustration and let it divide us”.

Protesters reported on Twitter that they rallied with signs and held a moment of silence for Tamir in Washington Square Park.

In a statement, Tamir’s family said it was “saddened and disappointed by this outcome – but not surprised”. “The prosecutor is covering up his own mishandling of the process”.

They also called for a special prosecutor to handle the case and the US Justice Department to investigate.

McGinty also pointed out that both officers thought the gun was real because it had no orange tip, a detail that would have clearly indicated that the gun was actually fake.

Meyer says Tamir was 5-foot-7, weighed 175 pounds and wore a men’s XL jacket. Grand juries so routinely side with prosecutors seeking indictments that the process has given rise to the adage among lawyers that a grand jury “will indict a ham sandwich”. Barricades were set up outside a Cleveland courthouse in case of protests, and a few demonstrators gathered, holding up pictures of Tamir and others killed by police around the country. These experiments also showed that respondents were more likely to see the black children as “culpable” of a hypothetical felony compared with white and Latino children.

Mr McGinty faulted the emergency services dispatcher for not relaying that information to the officers.

The Cleveland mayor said Monday the city will proceed with an administrative review of the incident now that the criminal process has ended.

Tamir was killed outside the Cudell Recreation Center in November 2014. A prosecutor pressing charges against an officer is a rarity that often only occurs with a mass swell of protests and mainstream media attention. Federal prosecutors in Cleveland noted Monday that a civil rights investigation into the shooting is already underway.

Prosecutor Tim McGinty announced the grand jury’s decision Monday.

Within 2-seconds, Officer Loehmann fatally shot the youngster, killing him with a single shot to the torso. Loehmann and Garmback were responding to a 911 call about a “guy” pulling a gun out of his trousers and pointing it at people.

The grand jury has been hearing evidence and testimony since mid-October.