The death of the black boy Tamir Rice has no legal consequences even after an investigation by the US Department of Justice. This emerges from a communication from the ministry.
Although the death of the 12-year-old is “tragic”, there is insufficient evidence to prosecute the police at the federal level. The case had attracted special attention in a series of fatal shots shot by police officers in the United States because the victim was so young.
On November 22, 2014, the police were called to a park in Cleveland, Ohio. A passerby reported that “probably a young person” was handling a weapon there that was “probably not genuine,” the message said.
The emergency call center did not pass these two pieces of information on to the two police officers on duty. Less than three seconds after a patrol car arrived on site, one of the police officers shot Rice. A surveillance camera filmed the scene.
The footage showed a police car approaching. Tamir Rice stood right next to it, the passenger door opens – and the boy falls to the ground, hit by two bullets. He died in the hospital.
Dismissed in 2017
The shooter was fired in 2017 after an investigation. Not because of the shots, but because he deliberately provided false information in his application. A trade unionist criticized the procedure and spoke of a “witch hunt”.
As early as December 2015, a grand jury decided that neither police officer should go to court. She believed the shooter’s statement that he thought the toy gun was real.