Protests in US over Tamir Rice ‘no indictment’ decision
Americans have taken to the streets to protest against a decision by a grand jury in Ohio not to indict a white officer for killing an African American boy last year.
In Cleveland, protesters gathered outside the Cudell Recreation Center on the city’s west side Monday after officer Timothy Loehmann was not indicted for opening fire on the 12-year-old Tamir Rice while playing with a toy gun on November 22, 2014.
Leohmann, who was with partner Frank Garmback, shot at Rice just two seconds after arriving at the scene. Rice was pulling out the air-soft gun from his waistband to either hand it over to the cops or show them that it is not real.
Prosecutor Tim McGinty said Monday that the officers acted out of fear for their lives, acquitting both of them of any charges.
"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 said.
Following the announcement, Cleveland protesters held a demonstration shutting down parts of Lorain Avenue near West Boulevard as well as West 130th Street at the Interstate 71 on ramp.
Also in New York City, protesters gathered in Washington Square Park, chanting, "Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail. The whole damn system is guilty as hell."
They also criticized the US judicial system, asking, “Why is it every time the life of the officers is more important than black youth?”
Activists said they would continue attending frequent “Black Lives Matter” demonstrations in New York to raise awareness about the raw emotions provoked by decisions such as the one in the Tamir Rice case.
“I think it’s important not only to speak out online, but to support these issues in person,” said Adriana Lira, a 37-year-old doctoral student at Columbia Teachers College in New York City.
People in the US have been frequently protesting following the deaths of several unarmed African Americans at the hands of white officers and grand jury’s decisions not to indict them.
Police in the United States fatally shot nearly 1,000 people in 2015, of which 90 were unarmed and did not possess weapons of any kind during a confrontation, according to a year-long study by the Washington Post.
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