No federal criminal charges will be brought against the two Cleveland police officers who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to determine what exactly happened at the time. of the shooting.
As for the video of the shooting that showed policemen shooting the boy just two seconds after getting out of their patrol cars, federal prosecutors said the quality and angle of the grainy footage and time lapse failed to show whether Tamir achieved what the policemen did. they thought it was a gun.
The object turned out to be a black toy Airsoft pistol that the 12-year-old boy was playing with at the Cudell Park Recreation Center minutes before he was killed.
The video, plus the conflicting analysis of seven experts on the use of force, was not enough to determine “beyond reasonable doubt” that the two officers intentionally broke the law, according to the DOJ.
“Although Tamir Rice’s death is tragic, the evidence does not meet these evidential requirements,” the DOJ said in a statement. “It is important to note that the footage is grainy, filmed from a distance, does not show details or perspective and parts of the incident are not visible because of the patrol car’s location.”
Tamir’s death and the shocking images of the shooting became one of the first killings of blacks by the police that propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into national discourse. For more than five years, the movement has sparked numerous protests in cities across the country and launched a political push to divert funding from law enforcement to social programs.
In announcing its decision on Tuesday, the Justice Department noted that not only should prosecutors show “beyond reasonable doubt” that police use of force was unreasonable – from the police perspective – but that the officer “acted deliberately to deprive an individual of a right protected by the federal government. “
“This high legal standard – one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law – requires proof that the police acted with the specific intention of doing something that the law prohibits,” added the statement. “It is not enough to show that the officer made a mistake, acted negligently, acted by accident or mistake, or even exercised bad judgment.”
A grand state jury also refused to open charges against the police.
Tamir was playing with the toy gun outside a recreational center on November 22, 2014, when the police received a report that someone was pointing a gun at people.
The caller reported that the person with the gun was “probably a young man” and that the gun was “probably a scam”, but that information was unrelated to officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, who ran towards the park.
Tamir was sitting on a bench when the police skidded to a stop a few feet from the gazebo, and Loehmann fired two shots less than two seconds after opening the car door.
Loehmann, according to the statement, “repeatedly and consistently” stated that Tamir was taking what appeared to be a firearm. The two officers testified that they gave Tamir “several orders to show his hands before shooting”.
The two policemen were the only witnesses close to the shooting when it occurred, and the Justice Department noted that the video that captured the shooting did not show Tamir’s hands at the time the shots were fired, making it unclear whether he was trying to reach what turned out to be a toy gun.
The Justice Department also noted that of the seven experts who analyzed the case, four of them agreed that the shooting was objectively reasonable – all four experts were hired and provided by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office. Three of the experts thought the shooting was objectively irrational – all of whom were hired by Tamir’s family.
Still, the basis of their determination – the video – meant that they “added little to the case,” according to the Justice Department.
“The evidence in this case fails to definitively establish what happened at the time of the shooting,” added the statement. “Based on this evidence and the high burdens of applicable federal laws, career prosecutors have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Tamir did not take his toy gun.”