Tag Archives: Tamir Rice

Tamir Rice’s Family Wants Biden Administration to Investigate Why Donald Trump Quietly Closed Federal Case Last Year

May 18, 2021 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Tamir Rice’s family is looking to the Biden administration for justice.

You might remember Tamir Rice as the 14-year-old Black boy who was gunned down by Cleveland police in 2014.

Buzzfeed News reports that Rice’s family is working alongside community organizers to campaign for the Biden administration to reopen the federal investigation into his death.

Additionally, the grieving family wants the POTUS to look into why former President Donald Trump quietly closed the case in December with no charges against the officers.

“It means everything to me and my family that we get some justice for Tamir,” Samaria Rice, Tamir’s mother, said on a call with community organizers. “What that looks like for me is accountability, and an indictment, and a conviction. So I’m keeping the pressure on—we’re going to keep doing the work and we’ll keep everything going until they give me some answers.”

The Rice family’s attorney sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in April, highlighting political interference in the progress of the case.

“We are mindful that no one can guarantee a conviction and that prosecutions against police officers present special challenges. But it is vital for [the] DOJ to establish that those who enforce our laws are subject to our laws,” the letter read.

In recent months, Tamir Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, blasted the Black Lives Matter movement and high-profile activists like Tamika D. Mallory and Benjamin Crump.

“We don’t want or need y’all parading in the streets accumulating donations, platforms, movie deals, etc. off the deaths of our loved ones, while the families and communities are left broken,” Rice wrote in a statement back in March.

“The national organizers and lawyers who’ve had criticism of the comments that Miss Rice has made about the movement should put those criticisms aside and support and show up for her on her own terms in her fight toward getting justice for her son,” Molly Nagin, a community organizer working with the family, told BuzzFeed News. “Maybe if you build trust by showing up for her, some of those criticisms that she’s raising won’t be as applicable, but right now they’re very applicable.”

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Federal Charges Denied Against Officers Who Shot and Killed Tamir Rice

December 30, 2020 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Emotions amongst family members, friends, and supporters of Tamir Rice are running extremely high. A young man who’s life was taken by Ohio police when they confronted Rice. Who at the time was in a park playing with a toy gun.

The U.S. Department of Justice will not charge any of the officers involved in the fatal shooting of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was killed by police in Cleveland in 2014. The department has closed its investigation.

In a seemingly traditional narrative, the Justice Department announced it found insufficient evidence to “support federal criminal charges against Cleveland Division of Police (CDP) Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.”

In a statement released Tuesday, the department said it notified Rice’s family attorneys about the decision on Monday “and today sent a letter to Mr. Rice’s family explaining the findings of the investigation and reasons for the decision.”

Imagine losing a child to persons who are tasked with protecting and serving our communities. Trigger happy officers who exhibit little to no conflict resolution skills.

Chilling video footage of the killing, which happened in broad daylight on Nov. 22, 2014, shows Rice was shot within two seconds of the police arriving at the scene. Not nearly enough time to survey the scene and move appropriately.

The officers were responding to a 911 call during which the caller said there was a man, “probably a juvenile” who was pointing a gun that was “probably fake” at people on the playground. However, the dispatcher failed to relay to the responding officers the fact that the subject of the call was likely a child with a toy.

Ultimately, the frustration of the situation as a whole is taking a toll on the Rice family. Frustration with a law enforcement system that continues to see killer cops let go without any major punishment for their actions, which undoubtedly can be classified as criminal action.

We continue to pray for the Rice family. We hope somehow some way justice is served and their hearts and minds can find some sort of peace.

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Presidential Candidate Julian Castro Brings Up Tamir Rice and Eric Gardner in Democratic Debate

June 27, 2019 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

NBC, MSNBC and Telemundo hosted the first democratic debate with between ten of the candidates running for the top office of the nation, President of The United States. It aired on those channels, as well as livestreamed on NBCNews.com and on social media platforms. On this panel was New Jersey senator Cory Booker, former Texas congressman Beto O’Rourke, Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren, San Antonio mayor Julian Castro; New York City mayor Bill de Blasio; Maryland politician John Delaney; Congressman Tulsi Gabbard, Washington governor Jay Inslee, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and Ohio congressman Tim Ryan.

When the question was asked regarding an Economic Justice agenda needed for Latino voters to stand with the democratic party, Castro’s answered spoke most passionately with his political alignment with the Black Lives Matter movement, Black and Brown trauma and domestic terrorism perpetrated against Black and Brown people.

He said, “I also think we have to recognize racial and social justice. I was in Charleston not to long ago and I remember that Dylan Roof went to the Mother Emmanuel AME Church and he murdered nine people who were worshiping, and then he was apprehended by police without incident. But what about Eric Gardner and Tamir Rice and Laquan McDonald and Sandra Bland and Pamela Turner and Antonio Arce. I am proud that I am the only candidate so far that has put forth legislation that will reform our policing system in America that will insure that no matter what the color of your skin is you are treated the same (including Latinos who are mistreated too often by police).”

Julian Castro. pic.twitter.com/pWUfbXd2CO

— Greg Smith (@glsmith04) June 27, 2019

This came right after, Mayor Bill DeBlasio invoke the image of him raising a Black son who has had his own issues with police based on race.

This is not the first time that the Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary has spoken out about this. Last week at the South Carolina Rep. Jim Clyburn Fish Fry in Columbia, Castro noted when talking about the aforementioned 2015 church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina and how gently Roof was treated, “What about Eric Gardner? And what about Stephon Clark?” Listing other Black Americans killed by police. “We’re going to be fearless to make sure this country works for everyone.”

The next debate will be held on Thursday on the same networks and will feature 10 more Democratic candidates, including prominent figures Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

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Sounds About White: Police Officer Who Shot & Killed Tamir Rice Hired At Another Police Department

October 9, 2018 ItsHipHop Leave a comment

Source: photo: family handout

The 2014 murder of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by officer Timothy Loehmann sparked nationwide outrage and was one of the many killings of unarmed Black men and children that helped push the Black Lives Matter movement into the national spotlight. Though the Cleveland police officer in question was never indicted for the shooting he was eventually fired three whole years later.

Now the The Times Leader is reporting that Timothy Leohmann has been rehired as a part-time police officer at a small village in Ohio, Bellaire. When reached for comment about the hiring, Bellaire Police Chief Richard “Dick” Flanagan said he believed Leohmann deserved a second chance at his job given he was never charged with anything.

“He was cleared of any and all wrongdoing,”Flanagan said of Loehmann. “He was never charged. It’s over and done with.”

Not. Surprising.

For those who aren’t familiar with the situation, Tamir Rice was a Black 12-year-old who had the police called on him after “concerned” neighbors spotted him playing with an airsoft gun that didn’t have the orange tip to show it was a toy. Loehman and his partner Eric Smith responded to the call and seconds after arriving on the scene Loehman shot and killed the pre-teen.

While we agree that people deserve second chances sometimes those people aren’t fit for the job they screwed up, period. An Independence Deputy indicated that such was the case with Timmy Loehmann.

According to published reports, Independence Deputy Chief Jim Polak wrote in Loehmann’s personnel file that he was “weepy” and “distracted” during firearms training. He allegedly told Polak that he was having trouble with his girlfriend at the time. But the deputy went further in his statements about Loehmann’s competence.

“He could not follow simple directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections, and his handgun performance was dismal,” Polak wrote in 2012.

Polak recommended that Loehmann should leave the department.

“I do not believe time, nor training, will be able to change or correct the deficiencies,” Polak wrote.

He also said Loehmann lacked “maturity” to continue working for the Independence department, published reports indicate.

According to a 2010 census the population of Bellaire, OH is a little more than 4,200 people with 91.9% Caucasian and 5.5% African-American. In other words the villagers will more than likely not care about the baggage that said officer will be bringing with him to their town. SMH.

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Photo: Rice Family Handout

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Sounds About White: Police Officer Who Shot & Killed Tamir Rice Hired At Another Police Department

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