The mother of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot over six years ago by Cleveland police, is fighting to make sure that the police officer responsible for the shooting doesn’t get his job back on the police force.
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According to NBC News, Rice was fatally shot in November 2014 when Officer Timothy Loehmann was responding to a call about someone pointing a gun at people. Rice was holding a toy gun when Loehmann shot him within seconds of getting out of his squad car. Rice died the next day at a local hospital, and a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against the officer, because I guess it’s not incumbent upon a cop to take stock of a situation before firing his gun.
Loehmann’s firing came in 2017 and wasn’t even in relation to the shooting. The police department said it fired Loehmann because he lied on his job application about being dismissed from the Independence Police Department in Ohio after being deemed unfit to serve.
You know, I’m thinking they might have been on to something.
Lawyers from the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association argued that Loehmann was wrongfully terminated, which, what? If any normal person in corporate America was found to have lied on their application, they’re probably going to get the boot because that’s not a good sign of your character. Granted, if any normal person fatally shot a 12-year-old boy holding a toy gun, there would likely be actual consequences.
Loehmann filed an appeal in the Ohio Supreme Court last month to get his job back, and attorneys for Samaria Rice, Rice’s mother, have since filed an amicus brief on her behalf arguing that he should never be trusted with a badge and gun again.
“Officer Loehmann shot 12-year-old Tamir without waiting even a second to process the situation or consider the devastating consequences of his actions,” the brief read. “Loehmann’s callous conduct in the aftermath of the shooting only exacerbated the pain he caused. His sense of entitlement after not just killing a child but lying to become a police officer should not be rewarded. He was, and remains, unfit to serve as a police officer, in Cleveland — or anywhere else.”
Rice issued a statement to WKYC that further reiterated her belief that Loehmann shouldn’t be trusted with a bagged and a gun.
“I hope that the Supreme Court does not give him a chance to get back his job,” she said. “The fact that the Cleveland police union is still trying to get him his job despite him killing my child and lying on his application to become a police officer shows you just how immoral that organization’s leadership is.”
Only a white man could shoot a kid, lie on their job application, and somehow feel like they’re the victim in all of this. But please, tell me again how we’re the ones with a victim mentality.
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