Police release video of shooting of 12-year-old
The Cleveland Police Department has released disturbing footage showing the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice by police as he played with a toy gun at a local park.
The New York Times reports that the video was made public at the request of Rice's family.
The video shows Rice walking in and around a gazebo. He is seen playing with the toy gun, as a pedestrian walks by and does not convey any concern about the young boy. The police were called by another man seen in the video. Despite telling the 911 operator that he believed the gun was a toy, and Rice was a child, the operator did not tell the responding officers. Although this information was not conveyed, it does not seem to excuse the action of the officer in the video who killed Rice. As Rice is in the gazebo, a black police cruiser speeds into the frame, and just as quickly as the car arrived, Rice is seen falling. The Times clocked the time between the police's arrival and Rice's collapsing at a mere two seconds. Rice is only the latest young black man to be killed by the police for no apparent reason, fueling protests that saw highways closed in major cities throughout the country. Interstates running through Denver, Boston, and dozens of other cities were closed by protesters demanding changes in policing. For example, in another Ohio town called Beaver Creek, a young man named John Crawford was killed by the police as he meandered around a Walmart talking on his cell phone, idly carrying a toy gun.
Video from that incident showed Crawford being shot as soon as the police arrived, despite the fact that Walmart sells real guns, and Ohio is an open carry state where it is lawful to openly carry a firearm in public.
