12-Year-Old Boy with Toy Gun Killed by Cops

Over the weekend, a boy was killed by police at a playground in Ohio.

From The Washington Post:

On Saturday afternoon, 12-year-old Tamir Rice was sitting on a swing outside a recreation center in Cleveland, wearing a camouflage hat and hiding a BB gun in his waistband.

The boy was playing with the gun on the playground at Cudell Recreation Center, pulling it from his pants and pointing it at people, a man told a 911 dispatcher. The toy’s orange safety tip had apparently been removed, and the caller said the boy was “scaring the s— out of everyone.” He also noted that the boy was “probably a juvenile” and that the gun was “probably fake,” but that message was reportedly never relayed to police.

Officer Ali Pillow told CNN it wasn’t clear if officers had been told the weapon was not a firearm.

Jeff Follmer, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, said the officers were not told the caller thought the gun might be fake.

When two officers arrived, Tamir did not point the weapon at them or otherwise threaten them, Deputy Chief Ed Tomba of the Cleveland Division of Police told reporters early Sunday.

But he did reach for the weapon, Tomba said:

“The officers ordered him to stop and to show his hands and he went into his waistband and pulled out the weapon.”

That’s when the officers shot Tamir in the torso. He was transported to MetroHealth Medical Center, and died early Sunday.

This morning, Cleveland police said the incident was caught on surveillance video.

From NewsNet5:

The Cleveland Division of Police Use of Deadly Force Investigation Team is investigating the officer-involved shooting that happened on Saturday at about 3:30 p.m. at Cudell Recreation Center located at 1910 West Blvd.

Cleveland Police confirmed surveillance video in the area captured the incident, but when newsnet5 asked when it would be released, Cleveland Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ali Pillow said there is, “No specific time when video might be released.”

Translation: We will release the video if it doesn’t show any evidence that condemns the officers.

Cleveland police have been under increased scrutiny during the last few years. The U.S. Justice Department has been conducting an investigation of their pursuit and use of force practices. They did the same for the Another Person Dead Albuquerque Police Department and issued a 46-page report that detailed their findings. Their conclusion? “We have reasonable cause to believe that APD engages in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment and Section 14141.”  The DOJ gave the APD recommendations for improvement. Time will tell if their guidelines do any good there, and what comes of the Cleveland investigation.

Meanwhile, the hacktivist collective Anonymous has taken down the City of Cleveland’s website.

From RT:

In a video released on Monday, Anonymous lambasts Cleveland City Police, whose alleged inability to train their officers properly is said to have led to the tragedy.

“This rookie officer apparently was not trained. The police department he works for is to blame for this lack of appropriate training. Officers are equipped with many non-lethal options such as Taser guns. Why did he not use a Taser on this child? Shooting him in cold blood was not necessary with these non-lethal options available,” a statement from the collective said.

The group further questioned whether the police were so “moronic” that they were unable to use anything other than lethal force to deescalate the situation. The called the justification that the police“feared for their lives” ludicrous, as Rice was only 12-years-old and armed with an air soft gun. The message concluded with a vow to target all municipalities whose “ignorant” and poorly-trained officers pose a threat to society.

“Police of the United States you will learn in due time once Anonymous has shut down your sites that we will not stand for your ignorant, untrained rookie cops.”

Anonymous is also conducting Operation John Crawford in response to the refusal of the Beavercreek Chief of Police to meet any of the very reasonable demands of the Ohio Students Association and other protesters against the shooting of John Crawford by Officer Sean Williams in a Wal-Mart on August 5.

Crawford’s case bears some similarities to Tamir’s. He was carrying a BB gun around a Wal-Mart store in Beavercreek when another shopper called 911 to report “a man walking around with a gun in the store.” The caller claimed that Crawford was pointing the gun at people, but later admitted he lied about what he said during the call. He told The Guardian, “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody.”

In Crawford’s case, officers claimed they were justified in shooting the man because he ignored their commands and refused to drop the BB gun. Surveillance video proved otherwise.

If – WHEN – the Cleveland police release the surveillance video that shows what happened to Tamir, I wonder what we’ll see.