Tamir Rice case: Officers will not face criminal charges

On Monday, Mr McGinty told reporters that newly enhanced video showed it is “indisputable” that Tamir was removing his gun from his waistband when he was shot.

McGinty said Monday afternoon that the state failed to prove that the officers involved in his death had partaken in criminal activity.

Protesters took to the streets in NY and Cleveland after it was revealed a grand jury would not indict a police officer over the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.

Case Western Reserve University law professor Lewis Katz said the city would be vulnerable at trial because of the failure of the 911 call taker to pass on key information – namely, that the caller said the gunman was probably a juvenile and the gun probably wasn’t real.

In light of the circumstances, he said that it was “reasonable” to believe that Tamir was a threat, adding that the toy looked like a real gun. Tamir’s family is saddened and disappointed by this outcome-but not surprised.

The Cleveland branch of the Anti-Defamation League asked the U.S. Department of Justice to intensify its investigation into the Tamir Rice shooting after a grand jury voted not to bring charges against the police officers involved.

The Rice family is grateful for all the community support they have received and urges people who want to express their disappointment with how Prosecutor McGinty has handled this process to do so peacefully and democratically.

Twelve-year-old Tamir Rice was shot to death last year by Cleveland police and nothing will ever make that right, nothing can ever make that anything less than a tragedy.

“The officers, who had no idea that the gun was fake or that Tamir was only 12, thought he was going to pull the gun out at them”, the report said.

Before police arrived, the youngster was seen repeatedly drawing the gun from his waistband and pointing it at other children, Meyer said. And he said Tamir was big for his age – 1.7 metres and 80kg – and could have easily passed for someone much older.

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

The Cleveland Police Department plans to put dashboard cameras in every auto, and all patrol officers have been equipped with bodycams since September.

“We have made some changes not only in terms of our policies, tactics, process, procedure, but we’ve reached an agreement with the Department of Justice in terms of the Consent Decree”. It was prompted in large part by the killing of a couple in a 137-shot barrage of police gunfire after a high-speed chase.

The prosecutor said that he talked to Rice’s mother about the decision before Monday’s public announcement, calling it a “tough conversation”. “She was broken up and it was very hard”.

The family is suing the city, federal prosecutors are looking into possible civil rights charges against Timothy Loehmann and his partner, and the two officers face a departmental investigation that could result in disciplinary action, including firing.

Some protesters are carrying signs that say “Black Lives Matter” as they chant “Justice for Tamir”.

The grand jury had been hearing evidence since mid-October. Typically there is a warning on the packaging indicating that removing the orange tip of the gun “is unsafe, may cause confusion, may be mistaken to be a real firearm by law enforcement officers or others and may be a crime”.

“As the video shows, Officer Loehmann shot my son in less than a second”, his family said in a statement.