Tamir Rice family to get $6M; Cleveland admits no wrong

umbertino · April 26, 2016

John Bacon, USA TODAY 5:58 p.m. EDT April 25, 2016

The city of Cleveland has agreed to pay $6 million to the family of Tamir Rice, a black youth fatally shot by a white police officer in a tragedy caught on video.

The city will pay the family $3 million this year and another $3 million in 2017, according to court documents released Monday. The city made no admission of wrongdoing by police.

Tamir, 12, was playing with a toy gun when he was fatally shot by a rookie patrolman outside a recreation center on Nov. 22, 2014. The shooting was one of several across the nation that prompted "Black Lives Matter" protests challenging the treatment of black Americans by police and the criminal justice system.

The family's lawyer, Subodh Chandra, released a statement saying the "historic" financial terms of the settlement can't compensate for the loss of Tamir's life.

"Regrettably, Tamir’s death is not an isolated event," the statement said. "The problem of police violence, especially in communities of color, is a crisis plaguing our nation. It is the Rice family's sincere hope that Tamir’s death will stimulate a movement for genuine change in our society and our nation’s policing so that no family ever has to suffer a tragedy such as this again."

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson agreed that "there is no price that you can put on the life of a lost 12-year-old child."

Rookie patrolman Timothy Loehmann and training officer Frank Garmback had responded to a call about a man with a gun when they came upon Tamir. The dispatcher did not tell them the caller thought it might be a child with a fake gun.

Loehmann said he ordered Tamir to show his hands, then fired in self-defense after Tamir reached for his waistband and Loehmann saw what he thought was a gun. Tamir likely meant to show the officers his gun was a toy that shot plastic pellets, but there was no way the officers could have known that when they confronted him, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said. Video of the shooting shows Loehmann discharging his weapon moments after arriving on the scene.

Last December, a Cleveland grand jury declined to bring charges in the case. Announcement of the grand jury decision drew hundreds of protesters to city streets for mostly peaceful protests.

Guyora Binder, a law professor at the University at Buffalo, called the settlement "good news," telling USA TODAY that large settlements typically force cities to closely examine protocols and behavior. He rejected the argument that police are justified in shooting first because they have to make split-second, life-and-death decisions. Last year, Binder said, police killed about 1,000 civilians, while 50 officers were killed.

"That means (officers) are 20 times more likely to kill a civilian than to be killed by a civilian," Binder said. "Moreover, these statistics show that police face no greater risk of homicide than the general population.”

Last April, Ohio Gov. John Kasich announced plans for a police standards board laying out rules for law enforcement agencies governing use of deadly force.

Under terms of Monday's settlement, the estate of Tamir Rice will receive $5.5 million from the settlement. The boy's mother, Samaria Rice, will directly receive $250,000; the rest will fund claims against Tamir's estate.

The settlement is believed to be a record for the city. Cleveland settled its lawsuits with the families of Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell for $1.5 million each after the couple were shot in 2012 following a police chase. Officer Michael Brelo was acquitted of manslaughter charges after a criminal trial in 2015.

The city also settled lawsuits involving the accidental shooting by police of an 8-year-old boy in 2003 for $1.9 million and a 16-year-old boy in 2008 for $1 million.

Contributing: WKYC-TV, Cleveland

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