Six years ago today, a 12-year old boy was standing alone in a park.
Police pulled up and opened fire before their car had even stopped moving.
A child was shot and killed in literally two seconds.
1/
Police pulled up and opened fire before their car had even stopped moving.
A child was shot and killed in literally two seconds.
1/
The two officers were responding to a dispatcher’s call about a “person with a gun.”
The original caller had said the person was “possibly a juvenile” and the gun was “probably fake”; the dispatcher didn’t pass that along.
Instead, the police just pulled up and opened fire.
2/
The original caller had said the person was “possibly a juvenile” and the gun was “probably fake”; the dispatcher didn’t pass that along.
Instead, the police just pulled up and opened fire.
2/
The 12-year old boy was indeed a juvenile and the gun was indeed “fake”.
It was a toy and it was tucked into his waistband.
He wasn’t holding it or brandishing it. He was just a kid with a toy gun tucked into his belt.
3/
It was a toy and it was tucked into his waistband.
He wasn’t holding it or brandishing it. He was just a kid with a toy gun tucked into his belt.
3/
The officer who shot and killed him had attended police academy in a town a few miles away.
In training, he had shown a “dangerous loss of composure” in a weapons training exercise.
He had been deemed emotionally unfit to serve.
He resigned before he could be fired.
3/
In training, he had shown a “dangerous loss of composure” in a weapons training exercise.
He had been deemed emotionally unfit to serve.
He resigned before he could be fired.
3/
The other officer had been accused of putting a woman in a chokehold; tackling her; and assaulting her.
She had called police to report a car blocking her driveway.
The city paid $100,000 to settle her excessive force suit. The incident wasn’t even in the officer’s file.
4/
She had called police to report a car blocking her driveway.
The city paid $100,000 to settle her excessive force suit. The incident wasn’t even in the officer’s file.
4/
The 12-year old boy was Tamir Rice.
He looked like the kids who pile into my backseat with my son after school in normal times.
That still-a-kid smile. That last bit of baby fat in the face.
5/
He looked like the kids who pile into my backseat with my son after school in normal times.
That still-a-kid smile. That last bit of baby fat in the face.
5/
There was no justice for Tamir Rice.
There was no justice for his family.
A 12-year old boy was killed in two seconds by an officer who should have never been allowed on the force.
The entire thing was caught on film by a security camera.
6/
There was no justice for his family.
A 12-year old boy was killed in two seconds by an officer who should have never been allowed on the force.
The entire thing was caught on film by a security camera.
6/
The footage haunts me.
A child around my son’s age gunned down the literal second the officer pulled up.
And there was no justice.
And that, to me, feels like the second time Tamir Rice was murdered.
That grievous wrong can never be forgotten.
7/7
A child around my son’s age gunned down the literal second the officer pulled up.
And there was no justice.
And that, to me, feels like the second time Tamir Rice was murdered.
That grievous wrong can never be forgotten.
7/7
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