The civil-rights investigation into the killing of Tamir Rice quietly ended last year — but no one told his family the police officer would not be charged, NYT says
The civil-rights investigation into the killing of Tamir Rice quietly ended last year, but no one told his family the police officer would not be charged, according to The New York Times.
Tamir Rice, a Black, 12-year-old boy, was killed by a white police officer while playing with a pellet gun in a park in 2014 in Cleveland, Ohio. The case sparked national outrage at the time, with calls to rethink policing. In 2015, the Department of Justice said they were reviewing the case.
In 2017, prosecutors asked for a grand jury to be used in their civil-rights investigation, a request that was denied two years later, effectively ending the investigation in August 2019 before it really occurred, sources familiar with the situation reportedly told The Times.
Despite no further movement on the investigation, the case has not technically been closed and Rice's family was not informed that the involved officer would not be charged, The Times reported.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Speaking about Rice's mom, Subodh Chandra, an attorney for Rice's family, said, "The federal investigation was her last hope for justice. Accountability was so important to her and her family," according to The Times.
In 2015, a grand jury in Ohio declined to indict the two officers in Rice's case, saying there was not enough evidence to suggest police acted criminally as they believed Rice to be holding a real firearm.
At the time, Rice's family asked for a civil-rights investigation, and the Justice Department said it was looking into the case.
The Times reported the investigation was hindered by multiple factors, including federal Ohio officials' disinterest in pursuing charges, as well as the difficulty of proving a civil-rights crime has occurred, which requires proof of intent.
At the time of the shooting, police were responding to a call that someone was playing with a gun at a park. The 911 dispatcher did not mention to the officer that the gun may not be real or that the person may be a juvenile, despite the caller saying so. Seconds after arriving on the scene, Officer Timothy Loehmann shot Rice two times.
Loehmann was fired from the Cleveland Police Department in 2017, but no charges have been brought against him.
In 2016, the City of Cleveland agreed to pay $6 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Rice's family.
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