Officer who murdered Tamir Rice withdraws application to small police department in Ohio

The police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland four years ago has withdrawn his application to a police department in eastern Ohio, CNN affiliate WTOV-TV reported, citing the department's police chief.

Timothy Loehmann was hired by the police department in Bellaire, a small town on the Ohio River, about 65 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. Bellaire Police Chief Richard "Dick" Flanagan told WTOV on Wednesday that Loehmann called him saying he was "rescinding his application here at the Bellaire Police Department."

"I had accepted his withdrawal from the Bellaire Police Department," Flanagan said. "He proceeded to tell me that he wanted to pursue the legal end of what's going on there in Cleveland and he just doesn't have the time to travel back and forth."

Flanagan said Loehmann was never sworn in and was still in the training process.

"Everyone assumes he was automatically hired -- no, there is a process," he said. "He did not receive one dime. He was not on the schedule."

The announcement of Loehmann's hiring caused an intense reaction from the community, WTOV reported. Flanagan said that at one point, the department received more than 200 calls between 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. "Our own citizens here in town were not able to get police, EMS or fire service because they couldn't get through anywhere," he said.

While Flanagan originally said that everyone deserved a second chance and that he stood behind the hiring of Loehmann, he told WTOV on Wednesday that he believes the withdrawal is personal and he supports the decision.

"I think he did the right thing by stepping down, not putting the citizens here in town in jeopardy," he said. "In this job you have to make split-second decisions, you have to see things you don't want to see, you have to do things you don't want to do, you have to say things you don't want to say. We're not supermen -- we just wear a uniform and enforce the laws."

[SOURCE: CNN]

Police Officer that killed Tamir Rice hired by another police department

Timothy Loehmann, the former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice has been hired by a police department in a small Ohio village.

Officer who shot Tamir Rice fired but not for shooting Tamir

Timothy Loehmann, the Cleveland police officer who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014, was fired Tuesday -- not for the shooting, but because investigators found he wasn't truthful about his employment history when he applied for the job, officials said.

The officer who was with Loehmann, Frank Garmback, will be suspended for 10 days because he violated tactical rules relating to how he drove to the scene that day, the city's public safety director and the police chief said.

An Ohio grand jury declined to criminally charge the officers in 2015.

None of the rule violations announced by Public Safety Director Michael McGrath and Chief Calvin Williams directly related to Loehmann shooting Rice outside a recreation center as the boy held a toy gun on November 22, 2014.

"After over two years of investigation by our agency, the county prosecutor's office (and) the sheriff's department, I think we've come to what we consider a fair conclusion to this process," Williams said. Rice's mother called the actions against Loehmann and Garmback "deeply disappointing."

"I am relieved Loehmann has been fired because he should never have been a police officer in the first place -- but he should have been fired for shooting my son in less than one second, not just for lying on his application," a statement from Samaria Rice read.

"And Garmback should be fired, too, for his role in pulling up too close to Tamir," Samaria Rice said. "As we continue to grieve for Tamir, I hope this is a call for all of us to build stronger communities together."

[SOURCE: CNN]

Cleveland police dispatcher in Tamir Rice shooting suspended 8 days

A Cleveland police dispatcher was suspended for eight days for failing to warn officers in the 2014 shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice that a 911 caller had described the scene as probably a child with a fake gun, the boy's family lawyer said on Wednesday.

Reports of the suspension published in Cleveland on Tuesday led to criticism of authorities on social media under the Twitter hashtag #TamirRice, including "8 days suspension? How pathetic" and "the 911 dispatcher whose words lead to the terrible death of tamir rice, an INNOCENT 12 year old, should be FIRED, not simply suspended."

The shooting of the black child, who was playing with a replica gun that fired plastic pellets, by two white police officers was one of several that fueled scrutiny of police use of deadly force across the United States, particularly against minorities.

The family's lawyer Subodh Chandra said the dispatcher, Constance Hollinger, also received a disciplinary letter after a 10-month investigation that ended in February. An off-duty officer at the scene, William Cunningham II, was suspended for two days without pay.

Samaria Rice, Tamir's mother, has urged that anyone involved in the shooting be fired and Chandra said the mother considered Hollinger's eight day suspension without pay “unacceptable.”

Chandra publicly released a March 6 letter about the city's decision on Tuesday evening.

City and police union officials confirmed the letter's legitimacy.

The attorney for Hollinger, Keith Wolgamuth, could not be reached to comment.

Read more: Cleveland police dispatcher in Tamir Rice shooting suspended 8 days

City of Cleveland: No Ambulance Charge to Tamir Rice's Family

Cleveland's mayor and other city officials apologized Thursday for asking for reimbursement from Tamir Rice's family for the medical services he received after he was fatally shot by a police officer. The claim has no been withdrawn.

Is the #NoJusticeNoLebron movement fair to Lebron James

LeBron James spoke publicly for the first time since a grand jury declined to press charges against the police officers responsible for the November 2014 shooting death of Tamir Rice. James has caught a lot of flak for claiming not to know much about the Tamir Rice case. The backlash has lead to the creation of the #NoJusticeNoLebron hashtag which is part of a movement to get Lebron to boycott playing games until justice is served for Tamir Rice.

According to ESPN made the following statement to reporters Lebron James on the topic of the Tamir Rice case:

"But I think the most important thing that we all need to understand, the most important thing, this issue is bigger than LeBron. This issue is bigger than me; it's about everyone. And gun violence and tragedies and kids losing lives at a young age, some way, somehow we need to understand that that matters more than just an individual."

"First of all, I think I've been very outspoken about what I believe in," James said. "What hits home for me, what I am [knowledgeable] about. There's been so many more issues that's gone on that I haven't spoken about.

"There's been the San Bernardino massacre, there's been guys going in movie theaters, shooting up movie theaters, there's been other issues. Those are not something that ... I don't have much knowledge of so I don't speak about it. So for me ... if I feel like it's something that I have a lot of knowledge about [I'll add my voice to the issue], because I don't like to speak when I don't know about it.

After reading his statement do you feel that the whole #NoJusticeNoLebron movement is fair to Lebron? Does he owe something to the people who help him make millions a year?

Tamir Rice family releases statement about officers not being charged in Tamir's death

The family of Tamir Rice released the following statement about today's announcement that a grand jury has declined to press charges against the officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by police.

Today, more than a year after Cleveland police shot and killed 12-­year-­old Tamir Rice, a grand jury voted not to indict the shooter. Tamir’s family is saddened and disappointed by this outcome–but not surprised.

It has been clear for months now that Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty was abusing and manipulating the grand-­jury process to orchestrate a vote against indictment. Even though video shows the police shooting Tamir in less than one second, Prosecutor McGinty hired so-­called expert witnesses to try to exonerate the officers and tell the grand jury their conduct was reasonable and justified. It is unheard of, and highly improper, for a prosecutor to hire “experts” to try to exonerate the targets of a grand-­‐jury investigation. These are the sort of “experts” we would expect the officer’s criminal-­defense attorney to hire—not the prosecutor.

Then, Prosecutor McGinty allowed the police officers to take the oath and read prepared statements to the grand jury without answering any questions on cross-­examination. Even though it is black-­letter law that taking the stand waives the Fifth Amendment right to be silent, the prosecutor did not seek a court order compelling the officers to answer questions or holding the officers in contempt if they continued to refuse. This special treatment would never be given to non-­police suspects.

The way Prosecutor McGinty has mishandled the grand-­jury process has compounded the grief of this family.

The Rice family is grateful for all the community support they have received and urges people who want to express their disappointment with how Prosecutor McGinty has handled this process to do so peacefully and democratically. We renew our request that the Department of Justice step in to conduct a real investigation into this tragic shooting of a 12-­year-­old child.

Are conservatives/republicans/Tea Party anti black or just pro cop?

In light of the rash of videos showing police acting inappropriately toward African Americans there are two things we can expect whenever a video comes out. One being that everyone will see the videos and based on their own biases see what they want to see. The second thing is that conservatives/republicans/Tea Party will always side with the police and give them the overwhelming benefit of the doubt. Many African Americans will side with the victim because many have had or know family members that experienced their rights violated by the police. It's sad, but things always break down by race and political beliefs with this cases.

Conservatives will always find a way to side with the cop no matter what they see on video. They will post pictures of the victim holding up their middle finger or acting in a thuggish manner (even if it's not an actual picture of the victim), claim the kids were disrespectful, or if they are lucky find and post a victim's criminal record. They will do this to justify whatever the officer did as if past mistakes or teenage stupidity allows one to be beaten or shot. It's automatically assumed that the black victims were somehow at fault. They expect minorities to blindly show respect to people who in many cases show no respect to them.

There are two things that amaze me about conservatives/ Tea Party types always siding with the police.

One being that no matter how many of these videos come out, theses are always considered isolated incidents. Conservatives tend to believe that there are no bad cops just bad blacks that get themselves shot or beaten.

It's also amazing to me that people who are always spouting off about the government trying to violate their constitutional rights have no problem with police violating the rights of African Americans or other minorities. If you believe it's okay for police departments to police many minority communities the way that they do, then you believe in allowing them to routinely violate those people's civil rights. Conservatives should be the first to stand up and denounce inappropriate police actions if they truly believe the BS they spout.

Now of course that's not going to happen and one has to wonder why. Is it just having the utmost respect for law enforcement? Is it simply a blind eye to the realities of policing in minority neighborhoods, or is it due to the hue of the victim's skin as in good old fashioned racism or bias?

George L. Cook III, AfricanAmericanReports.com

Tamir Rice Shooting Death: Activists Try Rare Move to Force Arrest of Cops

Cleveland activists made an unusual legal maneuver Tuesday aimed at forcing the arrest of two officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old boy Tamir Rice last year.

Saying they were losing confidence in the grand jury process, the activists instead asked a judge to order the arrests of the officers.

The move, known as an "affidavit of person having knowledge of offense," centers on a widely distributed security camera footage of the Nov. 22 shooting, that shows two officers, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback, responding to a recreation center playground where Rice was playing with a pellet gun. Within two seconds of stopping, Loehmann, a rookie officer, shot him. Tamir died the next day.

Read more: Tamir Rice Shooting Death: Activists Try Rare Move to Force Arrest of Cops

Tamir Rice Police Shooting Case Handed Over to Prosecutors

The investigation into the shooting death of Tamir Rice by Cleveland police officers has been handed over to prosecutors, who expect to convene a grand jury soon.

A source confirmed the move to ABC News and said that the grand jury will decide whether either of the police officers should stand trial for the 12-year-old's death last November. Cuyahoga County Sheriff Clifford Pinkney has since reiterated the transfer of the findings of their investigation to the prosecutor's office.

Read more: Tamir Rice Police Shooting Case Handed Over to Prosecutors

Sheriff to take over probe of police shooting death of Tamir Rice

Cleveland has transferred its investigation into the fatal police shooting of a 12-year-old boy to the Cuyahoga County sheriff's department, city officials said on Friday.

Cleveland police shot and killed Tamir Rice at a park in November while he was carrying a replica gun that typically shoots plastic pellets. Police, who were responding to a 911 call that a man was pointing a gun at people, shot Rice within seconds of arriving at the scene.

"I believe that the best way to ensure accountability in a use of force investigation is to have it completed by an outside agency," Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson said in a statement.

Read more: Sheriff to take over probe of police shooting death of Tamir Rice

Protesters March on Washington Against Police Violence

More than 10,000 protesters from New York City and around the U.S. converged on Washington Saturday, marching to the Capitol to call attention to the deaths of unarmed black men at the hands of police and call for legislative action.

BET Exclusive: Obama Talks Race, Racism and How Far America Has to Go

President Obama sat down for an interview with BET in which he discussed race, racism, the interactions of young black men and the police, and the Eric Garner case. Watch that interview below:

Black father and son talk about the police

Black father: Son, If you get are in trouble or lost go find a cop.

Son: You mean like the one that shot Tamir Rice?

Black father: ......

By George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com, georgelcookiii@gmail.com

African Americans don't need black leaders to tell us when to be angry.

This is going to be short and sweet.

In the aftermath of the riots in Ferguson MO after the decision by a grand jury not to indict Darren Wilson many conservative/right wing talking heads blamed President Obama, Eric Holder, and Al Sharpton for the violence. In conservative minds those men somehow roused the whole black community to action and violence.

I'm sure all three are amazed that they have such sway over black minds. (I'm sure that President Obama is kicking himself in the ass for not using that power to make African Americans vote in the mid-term elections.)

I was surprised at this because the conservative theory seems to be based on a belief that we as black people don't get mad or angry unless a "black leader" tells us to. They seem to believe they in the deaths of Eric Garner or Michael Brown that we would have just shrugged our shoulders, and continued on with life if Al Sharpton didn't get involved.

Of course this theory ignores the fact that far too many of us (especially black men) have had bad experiences with the police. It ignores the fact that many of us are stopped are harassed by the police because we don't belong somewhere or the cop has a "hunch" about us. The fact that I have never been in trouble, am a former soldier and serve as an elected member of my local school board doesn't mean much when a cop decides I'm "suspicious". I will be stopped, detained, and harassed without so much as "Sorry for the inconvenience sir" when the cop decides that I'm clean. Imagine how that makes you feel about the police, you know the very guys/gals that are supposed to protect us.

Many black men know the tired lie cops tell of there being a B&E ( Breaking & Entering) in the area and that they or their car match the description. We all know that everyone of these BS stops can end up with us dead and the cop who killed us getting off because society holds them to a different standard and gives them a benefit of the doubt it would never give a black man.

So when we hear cases like those of Eric Garner, Michael Brown, or Tamir Rice we get mad, we get mad all on our own!

It's not the Al Sharpton's of the world that make us angry it's the JustUs system in this country that does. Fix that BS system and you wont hear from Al Sharpton again.

George L. Cook III AfricanAmericanReports.com.

12 year old black boy, Tamir Rice shot and killed by police

Cleveland Police are investigating after an officer-involved shooting at a Cleveland rec center on Saturday afternoon. Cleveland EMS says a 12-year-old boy, Tamir E. Rice was shot and taken to MetroHealth Medical Center with serious injuries. MetroHealth Medical Center confirmed that Tamir has died as a result of his injuries.