Jose Luis Magana/AP
The city of Cleveland agreed Monday to pay $6 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a police officer on Nov. 22, 2014.
The city did not admit any wrongdoing in the killing of Tamir, who was holding an air pellet gun and walking outside a recreation center when he was shot by Officer Timothy Loehmann.
Cleveland mayor Frank Jackson held a press conference following the settlement announcement. He said while the legal side of this case has been handled, "there is no price that you can put on the life lost of a 12-year-old child."
Cleveland will pay out $3 million this year and $3 million next year, according to an order filed in U.S. District Court in Cleveland on Monday. As the Two-Way has reported, Tamir's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and police department in December 2014.
The Associated Press reported on the details of the payout:
In a statement, the family's attorneys said despite the settlement, there was "no such thing as closure or justice" in a situation like this one.
"Nothing will bring Tamir back," said attorneys Jonathan S. Abady and Earl S. Ward. "His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled."
Loehmann and his partner were responding to a 911 caller who said there was a man pointing a gun at people. The caller had told the dispatcher he believed the person to be a juvenile and that the weapon was probably fake. Those details were not relayed to the officers.
NBC News described the event and reposted the surveillance footage in its report of the settlement Monday morning:
Reaction to the boy's death was a leading narrative as the Black Lives Matter movement emerged in recent years. Outrage increased in December 2015 when a grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against both officers involved in the fatal shooting.
"Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police," Cuyahoga County prosecutor Timothy McGinty told reporters on Dec. 28.
McGinty, who had been roundly criticized over his handling of the Rice case, lost his seat in the Democratic primary March 16.
It’s heartbreaking to hear about Tamir Rice. He was just 12 years old when the police wrongfully shot and killed him. Police are supposed to have special protocol before taking such extreme measures. No one clarified that the kid was a real threat. Attorneys Jonathan S. Abady and Earl S. Ward stated, "Nothing will bring Tamir back" (Hodges). Sadly, the family of Tamir will have to live without their beloved and innocent Tamir.
ReplyDeleteOlivia Lasecke per. 2
It so wrong that we are hearing more incidents like this, where the police are shooting without going through protocol first. Tamir was just 12 years old when the police shot him and he died. "Nothing will bring Tamir back" (Hodges). I think it is very important that we help prevent these situations from occurring.
ReplyDeleteMegan Welter Per. 2
It is terrible that a boy lost his life at 12 years old. I do think that the police officer should not have immediately shot at Rice. According to the people who called the police, he had not been harming anything. They also said the gun looked fake. The police should have told him to drop the weapon, put his hands up, and took him into the car for questioning, rather than shooting him as soon as they got out of the car. I agree with the quote, "Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police..." (Timothy McGinty) I think that the police were trying to keep people safe, not shoot a boy just because.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sad incident. I feel bad for they boy's family losing him at just 12 years old when he was innocent. The police should have done a better job of evaluating the situation more before just shooting him. "His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled" (Hodges). I do think the police were trying to keep people safe, but they had no right to just shoot Tamir. I feel bad for his family having no closure and having to live without Tamir. Per. 4
ReplyDeleteReading this story breaks about everyone's heart. Police these days have a very important job and that is to protect the people and to lock up everyone that is doing wrong. They have many times where their lives are in danger and need to defend themselves. But, i think they should use something else then a gun because within the past year these cases has happened a lot. I agree with the quote, "Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police..." (Timothy McGinty). This just shows that they make mistakes but i believe they have made too many at this point.
ReplyDelete-Nico gardey p1
So many of these stories are popping up now and its really starting to display the issues with our current justice system and social views. From Travon Martin to the furgusen riots, these stories constantly display the issues between the general public and the police. The police were said to ¨not admit any wrongdoing in the killing of Tamir¨(Hodges). No longer is there trust between the police and the population, there is always tension now. Our goal should be a complete end of situations like these, and progressing our population to push less stress on our police departments.
ReplyDeleteLasse Nordahl
Period 6
Its horrible to hear that Tamir Rice life was taken at the age of 12. "A grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against both officers involved in the fatal shooting"(Hodges). There is no justification in the officers actions. The officers should of properly handled the situation and went through protocol before going to such extents. I cant even imagine what the family went through.
ReplyDeleteZayne Beckman Per. 5
"Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police" (McGinty). I think that in a situation such as the Tamir Rice case miscommunication is unacceptable. If you work in law enforcement all facts must be presented so that police officers can make correctly educated decisions on what is the right way to hand a situation. Perhaps Tamir Rice would still be alive if there was not a fault in our system..... Having no facts gives officers no justification as to why they shot a killed a 12 year old boy. This is also seems to be a reoccurring systematic flaw in law enforcement and it is starting to create a chaotic frenzy behind it.
ReplyDeleteAlexis Miller per. 6
A lot more of these stories are frequently becoming headlines of newsrooms and articles. These issues show problems within our own police department and the typical public. It is tragic that another person has to lose their life, and in result hurt their family and close friends. Personally, I believe it is just ludicrous to think that the police “[Don’t] admit any wrongdoing in the killing of Tamir” (Hodges). As a whole, more people have problems with trusting the police and respecting them as much as we do now. The aim should be to fix the problems most frequently occurring in our justice systems.
ReplyDeleteMarie Ong, Period 6
This document shows how ridiculous some of the police are these days. Reading this article makes me feel sad. They were told that the weapon might be fake, but they didn't even take a time to stop and check if that was a true fact. "One of the two police officers inside the car jumped out and fired his service weapon twice. " this statement just showed how some of the police these days don't even get into the detail of what is actually going on, they just do whatever they want.
ReplyDeletePer.1
It's awful to hear that the police the people who are suppose to be protecting us are actually the people harming and putting fear in us. The police officer who made this decision to shoot a young boy on site with a toy gun without even asking him if it was real or fake. This should be a first priority to fix because I don't think people want to be scared of the people that are suppose to protect them.
ReplyDeletejosh leifker per.1
It is always horrible to hear about people being shot and killed, especially at the age of 12. Nobody should have to ever hear that their friend, family, or even son was shot and killed. I do not believe that the fault of this crime lies fully on the police officers chest. The boy was said to be, "...pointing a gun at people..." (911 Caller) and even if it was a fake gun or different kind of weapon, you should not be playing with it in public. I also feel some of this was the dispatcher's fault.
ReplyDeleteA family members death is always a terrible thing to go through, especially if it is ones child. But, I hate how everyone blames the officers for doing their job. The child was holding a fake gun, which he should not have been waving it around. When the officers got the message, the dispatcher messed up on the full details. "The caller had told the dispatcher he believed the person to be a juvenile and that the weapon was probably fake. Those details were not relayed to the officers"(NPR). This then shows that when the officers got the message, the child had a real gun on him, not a fake one. The police are only doing what is right to protect the community.
ReplyDeleteSituations like these are devestating, but at the same time, I don't think police were trying to do anything wrong in this scenario. There are still bad police in the world who abuse their power, but not in this specific case. "Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police..." (Timothy McGinty). There was suspicions that he was shooting a fake gun, which may have given police the wrong signal. Although Tamir was doing nothing wrong, police may have just been trying to protect other people because of what they were seeing.
ReplyDeletePolice in the media are getting horrible reputation. Why are so many cops shooting people? These issues show problems within our own police. "Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police..." (Timothy McGinty). Police got the wrong signal that Tamir was holding a fake gun, not a real one. More of these stories are becoming more recent. Tamir was doing nothing wrong. Police were just trying to protect people. People don't want to be scared of the people that are suppose to protect them.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad to hear that this 12 year old boy lost his life, but he should have been smart enough to put the gun down when the police showed up regardless if it was fake or not. A person should not be walking around a recreation center wavering a fake gun around because how are people supposed to not that it isn't real? "Loehmann and his partner were responding to a 911 caller who said there was a man pointing a gun at people. The caller had told the dispatcher he believed the person to be a juvenile and that the weapon was probably fake. Those details were not relayed to the officers" (NPR). Though it is horrible that this boy lost his life, the police were doing their job thinking that they were protecting the lives of others around.
ReplyDeleteThe city of Cleveland agreed Monday to pay $6 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a police officer on Nov. 22, 2014. It is sad that the boy was killed accidentally. I think that it is fair that the family is given money due to the death of their son.
ReplyDelete(edited)
ReplyDelete"The city of Cleveland agreed Monday to pay $6 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit brought by the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by a police officer on Nov. 22, 2014." It is sad that the boy was killed accidentally because he was mistaken for holding a real gun when it was actually a pellet gun. I think that it is fair that the family is given money due to the death of their son. I hope the family will be able to cope with the lost of their son.
It is awful to hear about this shooting the could have been avoided with more communication. If all the information like the probability of the weapon being fake, had gotten through to the officers I believe this could have been approached differently and saved a life. “The city did not admit any wrongdoing in the killing of Tamir” (NPR). I believe there was wrong doing on someones part though. I hope we can fix these and it makes me sad to hear about all these of shootings.
ReplyDeleteJennifer Willis
per. 5
I think what happened is terrible, but I don't think the police were trying to do what they did. The reputation from the from is horrifying. Why are the cops shooting so much? Is it because they have so much power? They abuse people because they have power over them. Police got the wrong signal that Tamir had a fake gun. He never had a real gun and the police still shoot. I think that it is very fair that the family is given money due to the death of their son. I hope the family will be able to cope with the loss of their son because that is a crucial thing to go through. The officer didn't even ask if that was a real gun or not. He was just "doing his job" to keep the people safe around him. But if it was a fake gun I don't see how he can be a threat to the people and to the officers around him.
ReplyDeleteJake Vasquez
Period 1
It was wrong for the police to do what they did. I hope that in the future they are taught to use their weapons more responsibly. The family deserves restitution for the loss. I also feel the people responsible should do some time in jail.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the parents of Tamir, I would feel bitter sweet about this money. "Nothing will bring Tamir back"(Jonathan S. Abady and Earl S. Ward). This $6 million dollar donation would mean nothing to me because nothing can ever bring a man back to life. It is heartbreaking that police have shot and killed a 12 year old boy.
ReplyDeleteI do not agree with the way that the police officer handled the situation, "One of the two police officers inside the car jumped out and fired his service weapon twice"(Ward). I think the police officer should've taken control of the situation before just shooting him. But I also believe that Rice shouldn't have been "flashing around a toy pellet gun" in front of a convention center(Ward). I do believe this is a very unfortunate accident and I feel very bad for Rices' family members and friends.
ReplyDeleteThis event that took place was very unfortunate but I don't think that the police did it intentionally. The police try to do their job and the media puts too much hate on them. But I do agree that the police could have handled this problem in a better way. But if they see a potential threat, they have the right to protect themselves. The donation is a good thing, but for the family of Tamir, money won't bring him back to life. I think that the police should do the right thing by actually taking part in seeing if Tamir was going to threaten them.
ReplyDeletePolice these days have a very important job and that is to protect the people and lock up everyone that is doing wrong. They have many times where their lives are in danger and need to defend themselves. But, i think they should use something else then a gun. "Simply put, given this perfect storm of human error, mistakes and miscommunications by all involved that day, the evidence did not indicate criminal conduct by police..." (Timothy McGinty). I agree wit this quote. This just shows that they make mistakes but i believe they have made too many at this point.
ReplyDeleteKids these days do not understand how threatened police feel about any real looking gun. Any gun that seems as a threat to them give them the right for self defense. I do not agree with the way that the police officer handled the situation, "One of the two police officers inside the car jumped out and fired his service weapon twice"(Ward). I think the police officer should've taken control of the situation before just shooting him. But I also believe that Rice shouldn't have been "flashing around a toy pellet gun" in front of a convention center(Ward). This is a horrible incident that I hope future kids take as a lesson and learn from this.
ReplyDeleteRhys Kennedy
Period 6
Police these days have a very important job to keep the people of the community safe. Now police are shooting kids for having a slight alarm of fear. They need to realize they cant just shoot anybody. Also , "One of the two police officers inside the car jumped out and fired his service weapon twice"(Ward). This just shows that the kids were not really in the way and that they should be more careful for what they do.
ReplyDelete-Nico gardey 1
I know police have a hard job and they have to make tough decisions when the time comes. It is just sad that these things happen. It is sad a young boy's life is taken away simply because of a mistake. Police have to make quick decisions and it is inevitable that they will eventually get one wrong. However, bias increase that likelihood and there is something police departments can do about that.
ReplyDeleteIt is really sad to hear about the loss of Tamir, a 12 year old boy who was just an innocent kid. I don't think it was right that the police shot at him right away, or even shot at him at all. It is really sad things like this happen and the police have to make hard decisions on the job but, shooting at an innocent kid like this is terrifying for the police to do. Brandon Marshall Period 4
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