We are gathering writing that furthers the discussion of the shooting of Tamir Rice in Cleveland and related issues of police violence.
UPDATE: On October 10, 2015, the Prosecutor’s Office’s releases a report in which outside experts state the officers acted reasonably. The law firm representing Tamir Rice’s family calls the report a ‘whitewash.‘
Tamir Rice’s Family: Prosecutor is on a Quest to Avoid Accountability (October 11, 2015 NPR)
For more of Belt’s coverage see the following stories:
“A Chilling View: Protesting the Tamir Rice Shooting in Cleveland,” by Kevin Tasker (Nov. 24, 2014)
“Mayor Jackson Was Wrong About Ferguson and Cleveland,” by Peter Pattakos (Nov. 25, 2014)
“A Safer World? On Militarization and Police Violence,” by Daniel J. McGraw (Nov. 25, 2014)
“From Cleveland to Ferguson, With Love,” by Mistinguette Smith (Nov. 28, 2014)
“Boy Shot,” by Krystal Sierra (Dec. 1, 2014)
“Love’s Anger: The Rust Belt Can Make Injustice Visible,” by Roy Horton (Dec. 10, 2014)
“Scenes from the Department of Justice investigation into the Cleveland Police Department,” by Belt staff (Dec. 17, 2014)
“It’s Murder,” by Afi Scruggs (Jan. 12, 2015)
“Silence of the City: Why Isn’t Cleveland Speaking Out About Police Violence?” by Daniel J. McGraw (March 30, 2015)
Elsewhere on the internet:
Anna Clark (editor of Belt’s Detroit Anthology) writes a long, detailed and damning take of the Northeast Ohio Media Group’s coverage of the Tamir Rice shooting.
Afi Scruggs writes a very thorough column about cleveland.com’s coverage of the shooting: “Depicting black/brown boys and men as violent criminals from poor upbringing is an established media narrative that Tamir didn’t quite fit. But Cleveland.com, the website of the city’s former paper of record, tried to make him fit into the narrow narrative anyway, by reporting on the criminal misdeeds of his parents instead.”
Cleveland Scene’s Sam Allard on cleveland.com’s coverage: “manufacturing ex post facto causal links between Tamir Rice’s parents and the 12-year-old’s ‘randomly aiming what looks like a real gun in various directions,’ is dangerous. It’s also beside the point.”
Former East Cleveland mayor Eric Jonathan Brewer has a lengthy Facebook post on felony take down procedures and how they were clearly not followed when Tamir Rice was shot.
Congresswoman Marica Fudge‘s statement on the shooting and her letter from August 2014 to Eric Holder about Cleveland “requesting a formal court sanctioned agreement between the City of Cleveland and DOJ to return policing to the people.”
Mansfield Frazier argues that “It may come along kicking and screaming, fussing and fighting, dragging its heels every step of the way … but make no mistake, the Cleveland Division of Police is going to change the way it does business”
To better understand the difference between the NEOMG and the Plain Dealer, read Anna Clark’s article from February here.
Belt senior writer Daniel J. McGraw writes in the Guardian on the possibility of a “long, hot summer” of police violence in Cleveland.
Pacific Standard puts the problem in national perspective with this report on the recent President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
Cleveland.com reports on the City of Cleveland’s Very Bad Week in court, and suggests the system may finally be waking up to the DOJ report.
Feel free to add additional links in the comments, as we will continue to update this page.
Talk about the family of five that was brutally murdered that Friday night. Talk about the Akron officer that was murdered while stopping a robbery, just a week earlier. Don’t forget them too
I often serve as a Guardian ad Litem in Cuyahoga Juvenile Court and posted the following quoted portion on 11/25. It has nothing to do with explaining police conduct, which I think was absolutely deplorable, but addresses what information is helpful to assisting the community in moving forward. I think the release of father and mother’s domestic violence records provided important information to the public. I make no comment or endorsement for the way in which the PD published the material or the comprehensiveness of their reporting on the subject. If that’s your complaint, don’t misdirect it towards my post. Here’s why I think the information is useful in going forward and helping other families (originally posed on 11/25). … “This is when it gets painful to discuss and we generally walk away, harming all of us. According to media, father was not currently living with mother and Tamir. According to media, father and mother had domestically violent relationship. According to media, father is reported to have multiple DV convictions, but the one pending in Court now describes punching a current girlfriend [rather then use of a gun]. Were father and mother living together during a learning period for Tamir and did father model dangerous conduct, picked up by the 12 year-old, related to [gun ownership and gun use and] DV charges when in the household? We do not know. On the fateful day, did Tamir demonstrate conduct possibly learned from adults? On the fateful day, did Tamir demonstrate conduct possibly learned through television? We know, through research, that children who witness violence need help and counseling. Many more questions. Until we have answers, the public does not know and cannot respond with productive recommendations to help solve problems for families.”