The shooting death of Tamir Rice in Cleveland has been lumped with the killings of black men by white police officers in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri. The 12-year old was playing with a toy air gun when Timothy Loehmann arrived on the scene with a fellow police officer. Within seconds, Rice was shot dead. Friday, the Coronor in Cleveland ruled the incident “homicide.” What does that mean in terms of possible accountability?
Afi Scruggs, a former columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is now an independent journalist writing about the Tamir Rice case.