Tamir Rice Wiki – Biography
Tamir Rice was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 25, 2002, to Samaria Rice and Leonard Warner. His family described him as athletic, excelling at various sports—including football, basketball, swimming, and soccer—and often competing with kids older than him. He was involved in arts programs at his community recreation center, sculpting pottery and crocheting embroidery for his mother. At the time of his death, Rice attended Marion-Seltzer Elementary School in Cleveland, where he was described as a “pleasant young man”. He had an older sister, Tajai, and an older brother.
Tamir Rice Age
Tamir Rice has died at the age of 12-years-old.
Shooting
On November 22, 2014, Tamir Rice, a 12-year old African-American boy, was killed in Cleveland, Ohio, by Timothy Loehmann, a 26-year-old white police officer. Rice was carrying a replica toy gun; Loehmann shot him almost immediately after arriving on the scene.
Two officers, Loehmann and 46-year-old Frank Garmback, were responding to a police dispatch call regarding a male who had a gun. A caller reported that a male was pointing “a pistol” at random people at the Cudell Recreation Center, a park in the City of Cleveland’s Public Works Department. At the beginning of the call and again in the middle, he says of the pistol “it’s probably fake. Toward the end of the two-minute call, the caller states that “he is probably a juvenile”; however, this information was not relayed to officers Loehmann and Garmback on the initial dispatch. The officers reported that upon their arrival, they both continuously yelled “show me your hands” through the open patrol car window. Loehmann further stated that instead of showing his hands, it appeared as if Rice was trying to draw: “I knew it was a gun and I knew it was coming out. The officer shot twice, hitting Rice once in the torso. According to Judge Ronald B. Adrine, “…On the video the zone car containing Patrol Officers Loehmann and Garmback is still in the process of stopping when Rice is shot. Rice died the following day.
Rice’s gun was later found to be an airsoft replica that lacked the orange-tipped barrel, which would have indicated it was a toy gun.
Mother Remembers Her Son on 6th Anniversary of His Death
Tamir Rice’s mother, Samaria Rice, is honoring her son on the sixth anniversary of his death.
On Sunday, the grieving mother shared a tribute post on Facebook, asking for $6 donations to the Tamir Rice Foundation, which “invests in the growth and enrichment of all children through after-school programs,” as well as advocates for police reform.
“How Honor I [sic] my Son and his Siblings on this day. This is so difficult but they keep me going. Its never get easy. Rih baby boy Tamir Rice,” she captioned her Facebook post.
“As we honor Tamir Rice on his 6th death anniversary, I wanted to show how pain is turned into power: By loving my children and grandchildren unconditionally. By sharing pictures of the Gazebo located in Chicago now at The Arts Bank,” Samaria began in her statement.
“Under this Gazebo — which was located in Cleveland, Ohio — on Nov. 22, 2014, is where my son was assassinated by law enforcement. This is my forever lasting memory of my son Tamir,” she wrote. “In solidarity, for Tamir Rice’s 6th anniversary you can donate $6.00 for six years gone too soon to the Tamir Rice Foundation.”
Samaria continued, “All proceeds will go to the Tamir Rice Foundation so we can continue to build out Afro-Centric Cultural Center to honor Tamir and support youth in Cleveland.”
In 2014, 12-year-old Tamir was shot by a white officer while carrying a replica pellet gun outside a recreation center.
Widely-circulated surveillance video showed officer Timothy Loehmann pulling up to the Black pre-teen in a police vehicle, stepping out and almost immediately firing his gun. Tamir died several hours later from his gunshot wounds.
In December 2015, a grand jury cleared Loehmann of any charges for shooting Tamir.
Tamir’s family agreed to a $6 million settlement in 2016 in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city, PEOPLE confirmed at the time.
As part of the settlement, the city did not have to admit any wrongdoing, Zoe Salzman, one of the family’s lawyers, told PEOPLE at the time. Because of the settlement, the case never went to trial.
Emery Celli Brinckerhoff & Abady LLP, the law firm that represented Tamir’s family, issued a statement at the time, “Although historic in financial terms, no amount of money can adequately compensate for the loss of a life.”
The statement continued: “In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back. His unnecessary and premature death leaves a gaping hole for those who knew and loved him that can never be filled.”
Justice Department Won’t Seek Charges
Two Cleveland police officers will not be criminally charged for their involvement in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice in an Ohio park, the Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
According to a Department of Justice release, federal prosecutors concluded that the poor quality of the video from the shooting could not prove that Officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback obstructed justice.
Prosecutors reportedly said that because the officers’ claimed that Loehmann believed Tamir was going for his gun when he fatally shot him, the DOJ would have to prove that Loehmann’s actions willfully broke the law rather than being the result of a mistake, negligence or bad judgment.
On Nov. 22, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir was fatally shot by Loehmann while carrying a replica pellet gun outside a recreation center. Widely-circulated surveillance video showed Loehmann pulling up to the Black pre-teen in a police vehicle driven by Garmback, stepping out and almost immediately firing his gun. Tamir died several hours later from his gunshot wounds.
