Cleveland activists oppose re-election of prosecutor in Tamir Rice shooting

A man holds posters as he takes part in a protest against the police in Manhattan, New York, on after a grand jury cleared two Cleveland police officers in the November 2014 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

More than 100 Black Lives Matter protesters marched Tuesday night from Findlay Playground to Cincinnati police headquarters to protest a decision not to indict anyone in the police shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland.

A judge who notably ruled that there was probable cause to criminally charge the officers involved in the Tamir Rice shooting told BuzzFeed News Tuesday that he found County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty’s handling of the case odd.

Rice’s death was one of several nationwide that have fueled scrutiny of police use of force, particularly against minorities.

“In a time in which a non-indictment for two police officers who have killed an unarmed black child is business as usual, we mourn for Tamir, and for all of the black people who have been killed by the police without justice”, Rice’s family added.

“It would be irresponsible and unreasonable if the law required a police officer to wait and see if the gun was real”, Mr McGinty told reporters on Monday.

Mayor Frank Jackson said that now that the criminal process has concluded, an administrative review would no begin. But Kasich called for cooler heads to prevail in the wake of the grand jury’s decision.

The protesters, huddled under the cement roof outside the Jackson Square T stop, also targeted police brutality more broadly.

TAMIR Rice was just 12 when he was shot down by police in Cleveland, Ohio.

While the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Cleveland has said it will review the circumstances of the shooting, the legal hurdles to prosecuting a civil rights case are considered especially high.

On Monday during a press conference to announce the grand jury’s ruling, Cauhayoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty said the officer had reason to fear for his life. Police should be protecting communities from violence, not contributing to violence against marginalized communities, including black people.

Rice’s death has been justified by claims by the officers involved that he looked “big for his age”, or that he was pointing the gun at them.

Earlier this month, lawyers for Tamir’s family released their own report.

Evidence entered by the prosecution, once enhanced, actually showed Rice advancing towards the officers with the gun pointed in a threatening manner.

The Department of Justice is still conducting its own investigation of the incident.