Reports by independent use-of-force expert witnesses released Monday, Nov. 30—one year after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was fatally shot by Caucasian Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann while playing with an Airsoft gun in a playground—determined that Rice’s killing was “objectively unreasonable.”
These reports, not so surprisingly, contradict the findings of three investigations Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty had commissioned, which concluded that the cops’ actions were justified. Various Cleveland organizers and community leaders, as well as Rice’s relatives, have demanded that McGinty step down from the case. The call is now growing nationwide.
Jeff J. Noble, an expert witness since 2006, and Roger A. Clark, a 27-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, conducted the investigations that produced the reports. Their findings determined that the cops “exerted unreasonable and unjustified use of deadly force” and “displayed a callous disregard for the life of Tamir.”
Earlier this November, local activists and national organizations, namely Color of Change and Change.org, delivered a petition signed by over 200,000 people to McGinty’s office. The petition demanded that stricter actions against the officers involved in Rice’s death be immediately taken.
“When you deliberately disobey police practical training and police procedures and create dangerous situations, you should be held accountable for your actions,” stated LaTonya Goldsby, Rice’s cousin. “McGinty has distorted the truth to fit his own needs. He has manipulated the grand jury process, all while knowing officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback disobeyed police practical training and police protocol. McGinty must recuse himself from this case and allow for a competent investigation of Tamir’s death by a special independent prosecutor from outside the state of Ohio, and officers Loehmann and Garmback should both be immediately fired from their positions.”
