There was another shooting and death of
a young Black a few weeks ago. For some reason this one didn't get as
much attention as others. 12 year old Tamir Rice was shot and killed
in Cleveland, Ohio by a cop. This is all on video so I think people
need to stop asking for cameras on police thinking it is gonna stop
them from killing people. Eric Garner was choked and died on crystal
clear footage in broad daylight by New York police and that guy
wasn't even indicted.
That's for another post. Back to this
story.
Officer Timothy Loehmann, who is 26
years old, responded to a call of someone with a gun. This is all on
tape. He showed up, the kid reached for his fake gun, and was shot
and killed. When seeing the video I said to myself two things. “Wow!
That cop didn't wait for his car to stop moving!” and “Why the
hell was that kid waving a fake gun around?!”
The gun used looked real. It had the
orange safety cap missing. That safety cap generally tells the public
that this is a toy and not real. When you take it off the shit looks
real. This is the actual gun used. An airsoft that shoots pellets.
How fake does this look to you?
Someone that called 911 to report
someone with a gun told the dispatcher that it was a child and it may
be a toy. This information was not relayed to officers who as far as
they knew were going to handle someone waving a gun around in public.
The police spotted Tamir, sped towards him expecting him to run,
slammed on the brakes, and shot him.
The coroner released their report
stating that Tamir died from a “gunshot wound of torso with
injuries of major vessel, intestines and pelvis” and it was ruled a
homicide. A medical examiner named Thomas P. Gilson wrote in his
report “it is my opinion that Tamir E. Rice, a 12-year-old black
adolescent male, died as a result of a gunshot wound to the abdomen
which injured his inferior vena cava, intestines, and pelvis. The
decedent was shot by law enforcement during legal intervention.”
The family of Tamir filed a wrongful
death suit against Officer Loehmann and his training officer Frank
Garmback. They believe that excessive force was used as well as being
upset that Tamir lay for four minutes on the ground before getting
medical help. Information about Loehmann was released detailing
problems he has had regarding firearms training.
“He could not follow simple
directions, could not communicate clear thoughts nor recollections,
and his handgun performance was dismal.”
I was talking to a few people about
this killing and I believe that the blame falls on everyone that was
involved. I'll work backwards. The dispatcher that didn't give all
the information messed up big time. They did not do their job
properly and it cost a kid his life. The police showed up run and gun
style and killed a kid. Why not attempt to handle the situation from
a distance? I had the same problem with the Michael Brown case. No
reason why a cop should have been close enough to have their gun
grabbed.
Why was Tamir walking around pointing
what looked like a very real gun at anyone? Where did he get it from?
Did he not know that being a Black male, let alone one with a weapon,
was not a good idea? I know it sounds like I am putting the blame on
a child that was shot and killed but I direct this more at his
parents. There is not kid, let alone a Black one, that should have a
toy gun that looks like this. Ever. When I was a kid I had an Uzi
that looked very real and my father took it away. Who knows what
would've happened if I had kept it or aimed it at the wrong person?
This is yet another death that did not
need to happen. Loehmann is on paid leave right now while Tamir's
family wants him jailed, fined, or worse for what he did. I think
there are a lot of people that need to lose sleep because they all
had a hand in the death of this kid. This isn't just another cop
kills Black man and gets away with it situation. This is a public
instance of a family and the law making huge mistakes that ended
deadly.
The questions I asked in the previous
two paragraphs are real questions I'd like to hear answered. Once you
make this into a Black kid/White cop situation minds are immediately
made up. I look at this as a social problem that is being handled
terribly by those that are supposed to raise us and those that are
supposed to protect us.
Click here for previous While You Were
Sleeping.
My question is, what does a cop have to do to a black man to get arrested in the US?
ReplyDeleteAmerica, violence, race, justice. An absolutely toxic mix.
It depends on a lot of things that no one really has any control over. A good lawyer, what state you're in, criminal history of the Black guy and/or cop, money, social standing. Its never as easy as it should be. You murder someone you go to jail, especially if it is on video. Especially that. But even then it doesn't really help.
ReplyDeleteYou do more time and get in more trouble for hurting a dog than killing a Black guy. I know I'm not worth that much. It sucks having the world agree.