The U.S. Justice Department says they cannot file charges against the two Cleveland police officers who fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice due to the poor quality of surveillance footage captured on that day.
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The Justice Department claimed they will not file federal criminal charges against former police officer Timothy Loehmann and his partner, Frank Gramback for the 2014 shooting death of Tamir Rice A statement released by officials says they do not condone the officers’ actions but a lack of evidence did not support a federal criminal civil rights prosecution as per the Daily Mail.
“The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers acted willfully. This high legal standard, one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law, requires proof that the officer acted with the specific intent to do something the law forbids. It is not enough to show that the officer made a mistake, acted negligently, acted by accident or mistake, or even exercised bad judgment. Although Tamir Rice’s death is tragic, the evidence does not meet these substantial evidentiary requirements.”
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The deadly shooting occurred on Nov. 22, 2014, after the two officers responded to a report about someone pointing a gun towards people at a local recreation center. However, the caller told a dispatcher that the gun looked fake but the male officers did not recall that information.
Prior to the decision, the Rice family’s attorneys questioned why the Justice Department failed to organize a grand jury for the case.