Tamir Rice Protesters Tie Up Cleveland Traffic

NASHUA, New Hampshire (CNN) – John Kasich declined to weigh in Tuesday on a grand jury’s decision to not indict police officers in last year’s shooting of an unarmed 12-year-old boy in Cleveland.

The grand jury had been hearing evidence and testimony since mid-October. Police should be protecting communities from violence, not contributing to violence against marginalized communities, including black people. One of them, social activist Sonya Patrick, said more needs to be done in order for the community to trust law enforcement.

“I think with all the concern that people are showing here and other places that the apparent complacency that police have developed over time – feeling sort of immune- that that may change”.

Tamir was gunned down by Loehmann within two seconds of the officer’s police cruiser skidding to a stop near the boy.

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. The family also said that the prosecutor allowed the officers to read prepared statements to the grand jury without being subjected to cross-examination.

“The actions of officers Garmback and Loehmann were not criminal”, McGinty said.

Subodh Chandra, an attorney for the Rice family, disputed whether Tamir was taking the gun out of his waistband. When Cleveland police officers got the call, they already had the playbook: in their minds this was an armed and unsafe black man. And you know what happens to armed and risky black men. “They know that the power of the grand jury to indict is easy – they do it all the time”.

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. He said Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty went through “a process” which led the grand jury to its conclusion. In a post that was updated shortly after the announcement was made, Kweli said that there was “zero excuse” for officers to kill Rice because OH permits the carrying of firearms in public.

One protester from Cleveland says she came downtown to show support for Tamir’s mother and because she has young children she worries about. “I pray and hope that the federal government will investigate this case”.

“The tragedy of Tamir Rice must be seen with unblinking clarity through the lens of a series of incidents of police misconduct committed by members of the Cleveland Police Department over years”.