Tamir Rice Cop Shooting Video: Teen Sister of 12-Year-Old Victim Says Cleveland, Ohio Police Department Treated Her Without 'Decency'
The sister of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was fatally shot by a Cleveland police officer while carrying a toy gun in November, has filed an official complaint with a Cleveland police oversight board, stating that the officers involved in the shooting treated her like a criminal although she did nothing wrong.
"I did not do anything wrong," writes Tajai Rice in the complaint, which was filed last Wednesday, according to Cleveland.com. "I was not treated with respect or decency."
The 14-year-old is demanding that the city's Office of Professional Standards and Civilian Review Board investigate why she was detained on Nov. 22 when she ran over to her brother after he was shot. Video surveillance of the incident shows that the teenager was knocked to the ground by police officers before being handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car less than 10 feet away from her wounded brother.
"I wanted to go with my brother or go home," Tajai wrote. "The police held me against my will. I want those officers responsible to be investigated."
Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland police union, defended the officer's treatment of Tajai, saying it was necessary in order to preserve the evidence of a shooting scene.
"It sounds like a very articulate complaint, written by a very articulate attorney with an agenda," Loomis said. "She has every right as a citizen to file a complaint. We look forward to the outcome."
Surveillance of the shooting shows that Tamir was walking around and waving a pellet gun outside the Cudell Recreation Center. A man then called 911 to report he saw someone pointing a gun at people. Although the caller stated several times that the weapon was probably a toy, the dispatcher did not transmit that information to the responding officers. As a result, the officers believed they were looking for an adult black male on a "gun run," Deputy Chief Ed Tomba said, according to NBC News.
The surveillance also revealed that rookie cop Timothy Loehmann fatally shot the boy two seconds after arriving on the scene. Rice was then left lying in the grass, bleeding to death, for four minutes until a detective and FBI agent arrived. Rice died the following day at hospital.
The two officers involved in the shooting have since been placed on paid administrative leave.
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