Prosecutor Announces No Charges In Tamir Rice Case

By Karoli Kuns — December 28, 2015

As expected, Tamir Rice's killer will walk away free, with no stain on his record for shooting a 12-year old boy.

Now: Prosecutor Matt Meyer showing toy gun and saying red marking on barrel was removed: pic.twitter.com/uIyYjR5Iu7

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

Prosecutor in Rice case now saying:

"He appeared to be much older than he really was...5"7, 170 lbs, size 12 shoes, XL men's jacket."

Wow.

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

Prosecutor Matt Meyer cites unnamed associate of Tamir Rice saying he would sometimes pull the toy gun out "like a robber."

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

McGinty cites "perfect storm of human error, mistakes and human error."that "did not indicate criminal conduct by the officers." #TamirRice

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 28, 2015

"Indisputable" that Tamir Rice was drawing his gun when police approached, says prosecutor Tim McGinty.

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

McGinty claims enhancement of the surveillance video "proves Tamir was drawing his 'gun' on officers" as they rolled up on him. #TamirRice

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 28, 2015

The Cleveland police officer who killed Tamir Rice will not face criminal charges. Second verse, same as the first. https://t.co/dQYEIlmx4M

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) December 28, 2015

Now: Prosecutor in Tamir Rice case displays a toy and real gun to show how close they can appear: pic.twitter.com/A5GqBNiACW

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

McGinty: "we too want justice for Tamir, but justice does not mean bringing indictments not sustained by the law."

— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 28, 2015

Word to the wise: Open Carry, even if it's only a toy, is only for white people. https://t.co/TPpCxOMKXS https://t.co/tNSLrBMezD

— digby (@digby56) December 28, 2015

If you want to watch a bunch of grown men blame a 12-year-old boy for his own death, you can watch the presser here. https://t.co/hHkZARiLFZ

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) December 28, 2015

This was my immediate response to the claim "enhanced video" showed that 12-year old boy pulling out his toy gun.

This is utter bullshit. “enhancement” must have meant adding footage. https://t.co/p5Esulaqtv

— Karoli (@Karoli) December 28, 2015

McGinty has been telegraphing this outcome for a long time, but that doesn't make it any less painful. It's pretty clear he took a page out of the Ferguson playbook.

This prosecutor press conference offers a sense of kind of aggressive presentation the Grand Jury heard for this case.

— Ari Melber (@AriMelber) December 28, 2015

Here's the video again. It's graphic, but if you want to see how they play with the truth, watch.

Update:

Let this be a lesson to open-carrying black adults and children who play with toys that look like guns.

https://twitter.com/JuanMThompson/status/681553648523018240

Prosecutor McGinty says Rice should have known better before playing in the park, because he "looked older"

— Kate Aronoff (@KateAronoff) December 28, 2015

Explore more

Discussion

We welcome relevant, respectful comments. Any comments that are sexist or in any other way deemed hateful by our staff will be deleted and constitute grounds for a ban from posting on the site. Please refer to our Terms of Service for information on our posting policy.

Latest