On November 22, 2014, Tamir Rice was throwing snowballs and playing with a toy pellet gun in a Cleveland park when a police car rolled into the snowy field. Within two seconds of getting out of his squad car, officer Timothy Loehmann shot and killed the 12-year-old. The officer has claimed he thought the pellet gun was a real firearm.
On Monday, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty announced there will be no criminal charges filed against the officers involved. McGinty said that while there was evidence of miscommunication between a 911 dispatcher and the police officers, there was not enough evidence to suggest that the cops had cleared the very high bar for criminal charges in police shooting cases. Ultimately, a grand jury decided to file no charges, as McGinty said he recommended.
The Rice shooting has garnered widespread attention, elevated by the Black Lives Matter movement that has protested racial disparities in law enforcement's use of force following the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. With tensions already high in Cleveland, the outcome of the grand jury hearings could decide whether the situation escalates as it did in Ferguson or Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
Cleveland police officer shot Rice within seconds of arriving at the scene
Loehmann shot Rice within two seconds of getting out of his patrol car, according to surveillance video obtained by Cleveland.com's Cory Shaffer. He then stumbled back and fell, reportedly hurting his leg and ankle. Loehmann's partner, Garmback, remained at the wheel of the car.
According to documents from the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department, it's unclear whether Loehmann shouted any warnings before opening fire. Loehmann claimed that Rice grabbed the pellet gun, which he thought was an actual firearm, forcing him to shoot — a claim that McGinty, the local prosecutor, said he believed.
"He gave me no choice," Loehmann told another officer moments after the shooting. "He reached for the gun and there was nothing I could do."
It's crucial, legally, that Loehmann perceived the pellet gun as a real firearm. As I'll explain later, what matters legally is not whether Rice actually posed a threat, but whether Loehmann perceived one. So if Loehmann genuinely thought Rice was carrying a real gun and aiming it at other people, that would legally justify using deadly force, even if Rice was in reality doing no such thing and the gun was a toy.
Garmback quickly reported the shooting to dispatch and requested emergency personnel respond to the scene. But the officers — neither of whom reportedly had first aid kits or training — then stood around without applying first aid for about four minutes after Rice was shot. It wasn't until an FBI agent, who is a trained paramedic, walked into the scene that Rice received first aid.
The FBI agent described Loehmann and Garmback as almost shell-shocked — wanting to do something but not knowing what to do.
Rice acknowledged the FBI agent, showing signs of life as the agent tried to tend to the boy's wounds without any medical tools. "He turned over and acknowledged and looked at me, and he, like, reached for my hand," the agent said, later adding that Rice said his name and mumbled something about the pellet gun.
The video also shows Rice's sister running to the scene, reportedly to check on her wounded brother. The officers confronted the 14-year-old girl, wrestled her to the ground, and restrained her in the police car.
Paramedics arrived a few minutes later. They eventually took Rice to the hospital, where he died on November 23.
Police initially estimated Rice was around 20 years old
The FBI agent at the scene, Loehmann, and Garmback thought Rice —who was 5-foot-7-inches and 195 pounds — was an older teenager or in his 20s. "Shots fired, male down, black male, maybe 20," said the officer who called in the shooting, according to BuzzFeed's Mike Hayes.
RelatedHow systemic racism entangles all police officers — even black cops
It's not uncommon for police to overestimate the age and size of black boys. Various studies have found that the general public and police tend to see them as less innocent and older. For police officers, this can result in overestimating them as a threat.
Perception matters a lot in the court system: As I'll explain later, what matters legally is whether an officer perceives a threat; that perception legally justifies using deadly force, not whether the victim actually posed a threat. So if Loehmann really thought that Rice was much older, that could help justify his use of deadly force, since a 20-year-old is a much more plausible threat than a 12-year-old.
Read more
http://www.vox.com/2014/11/24/7275297/tamir-rice-police-shooting
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