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]

Richard Sherman makes good on scholarship promise

Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman told a Virginia high school student last year that he would give her a personally funded scholarship if she brought up her grades.

And now, he's making good on his promise.

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sherman's initial conversation with Hershai James occurred last year at a charity event hosted by his former teammate Michael Robinson. Sherman challenged James to make the honor roll at Varina High School as a senior, and she did.

"It goes back to knowledge is power, and if you have knowledge, you're going to be as powerful as you ever want to be," Sherman told the newspaper. "Nobody stops anybody from reading and educating themselves. Mike is only trying to empower these kids to be everything that they can be, and if we can help with that with our presence, with our [autographed] jerseys [for an auction], with our words, we'll do everything we can."

The exact amount of the scholarship is being kept private. James plans to attend Norfolk State.

"When my senior year began, I definitely had the scholarship in my head as motivation," James told the newspaper. "With being a senior, the year is really stressful. Having something to look forward to helped. It's like saying my hard work and dedication had paid off."

ESPN.

Baltimore Mayor: City Will ‘Look To’ Remove Confederate Monuments

New Orleans recently took down its Confederate monuments. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh says she is considering doing the same thing in the city.

“The city does want to remove these,” Pugh told The Baltimore Sun. “We will take a closer look at how we go about following in the footsteps of New Orleans.”

Pugh said she’s been focused in her first months in office on implementing police reforms under the consent decree negotiated with the Department of Justice and finding more funds for the school system. She said she’s now turning her attention to other issues, such as the monuments.

“You name it, we’ve tackled it,” she said. “This is another one of those things that we will tackle as well.

“New Orleans has taken on this issue. It costs about $200,000 a statute to tear them down. … Maybe we can auction them?”

Read more: Pugh to explore removing Confederate monuments in Baltimore.

Congressman honors Lt. Richard Collins something Trump has yet to do

On May 24, Congressman Anthony Brown (Dem-MD) spoke on the House floor about the life and death of Lieutenant Richard Collins III. Collins' murder was a hate crime, and the latest in string of racist and hate-filled incidents across the country at college campuses. Trump has yet to honor this fallen American soldier.

Watch his comments below:

When is Pres. Trump going to honor Lt. Richard Collins

Rep. Cummings recovering after heart surgery

Per POLITICO:

Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, is in the hospital after undergoing “minimally invasive” heart surgery on Wednesday, his office said Thursday.

Cummings is expected to spend a few days in the hospital in Baltimore, where he underwent a procedure known as trans arterial aortic valve replacement to treat aortic stenosis.

He will then “return to his normal schedule thereafter,” according to a statement.