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Cleveland Police Filed Charges On Tamir Rice To Justify Shooting Him

It appears to be an attempt to cover their tracks.

If you're a cop and you've just shot a 12-year old kid dead without giving him a chance to follow your orders, what do you do?

You file a report making it look like he was a criminal, that's what.

Cleveland police charged 12-year-old Tamir Rice with “aggravated menacing” and “inducing panic,” according to documents published by the Daily Kos on Wednesday.

The incident report is dated Nov. 29, 2014, a week after Rice was fatally shot by 26-year-old Officer Timothy Loehmann within two seconds of encountering him at a local park. Neither Loehmann nor 46-year-old Officer Frank Garmback, who also responded to the call, administered medical treatment immediately following the shooting.

The document lists a “facsimile firearm” as part of the case narrative. Loehmann killed Rice believing him to be carrying an actual weapon. However, emergency dispatchers were originally told that the Airsoft rifle the boy had with him at the time was “probably fake.” Footage from the scene also shows the officers handcuffing Rice’s sister.

Jamil Smith's reaction on Twitter sums it up:

You can see the documents here.

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